05 May 2013



Today is reveal day for The Secret Recipe Club. The Secret Recipe Club is a group of food bloggers who secretly make one of someone else's dishes and post them all on the same day at the same time.  It's really fun, choosing a recipe to make, making the recipe, then reading about everyone else's recipes.  It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and check out some great blogs that you never knew about before.

This month I was assigned the blog The Saturday Evening Pot.  It's written by a chef and his lovely wife. I saw a few recipes there that I would like to try.  Their Smothered Pecan Crusted Chicken with Apple Butter sounds amazing.  But, it's the wrong time of year.  Can't wait to try that in the fall.  I was also interested in their Poor Man's Fried Rice as I love fried rice.  But ultimately I couldn't resist remaking their Squash and Goat Cheese Casserole.  I kept the original ingredients and just changed the method slightly to produce a sauteed dish instead of a casserole.  Here's my version.


Summer Squash with Bacon and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:
4 strips bacon, chopped
½ large onion, diced
4 medium summer squash, cut into ½” slices
Salt, to taste
½ cup herbed goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:
Cook bacon in a large skillet until the fat renders.  Add onion and sauté until the onion begins to soften.  (If your bacon doesn't render much fat, add some olive oil to the pan at this point.)  Add the summer squash and cook on medium-high heat until it has reached desired tenderness.  Remove from skillet onto a serving dish.  Top with crumbled goat cheese.

Makes 4 servings.




The only real difference between The Chef's recipe and mine (besides my addition of onions) is that he cooked his squash down all the way and mashed it.  I'm sure it's terrific that way, but I wanted to try it keeping the squash intact.  I love summer squash and I usually like it with a little bite left to it.  And I knew I had a great chance of my kids eating it if it wasn't complete mush. 

It's a very simple recipe, but so amazing!  The combination of flavors is incredible; the summery yellow squash, the salty bacon, and the slightly sweet goat cheese go together so well.  And doesn't it make a pretty side dish?  We had this with grilled chicken thighs and Smoked Paprika Teeny Tiny Potatoes.  It made for one amazing spring dinner.


My husband could not stop raving about this dish!  Which is pretty good considering he's not a big veggie lover.  He absolutely loved this.  I think he would have eaten the whole platter if I had let him.  I don't usually put bacon with my veggies, not because it isn't awesome, but because I really do try not to be nutritionally naughty!, so I probably won't make this too often, but it's great for a special treat.  Especially if you are entertaining.

Thanks for a great recipe!

Be sure to check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club recipes below.


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24 comments:

  1. Lovely! Even though I don't eat bacon, I do have goat cheese and summer squash in the fridge... They might be destined to meet.

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  2. Elizabeth @ Food RamblingsMay 6, 2013 at 7:34 AM

    yum- it looks so pretty and delicious too :)

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  3. This sounds so wonderful. I love squash, and love finding new ways to make it so it's not the same old. Love this recipe. Great pick hon!

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  4. Hi Lesa! So glad you and your husband enjoyed it and love your variation... you did an awesome job with it! I must say... the casserole version is difficult to photo well since the squash does get cooked down quite a bit, but it is so delicious that way as well! It is a definite favorite for both me and my son.

    Yes, you are right about bacon though... it is not something you want to have every day if you're concerned about healthy living. lol We definitely don't eat it every day, even though it does seem to find its way into quite a few of our recipes.

    Nice to meet you and your blog. :) When you decide to try those other recipes, please stop back by and let us know how you liked them. I'm off to check out your recipes now. What would be your favorite so far [since we know you have great taste, at least with sides ;)]?

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  5. Thats sounds like a lovely meal you put together Lesa .... and a little bacon makes everything better :)

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  6. Hi Lesa! This definitely looks like something we would eat...and I would probably mix some zucchini in with the yellow and cook it the same way. I like my squash with some bite to it also.


    I made a version of your peach melba smoothie this month as part of the SRC and have a few others bookmarked (the ginger carrots are a part of tonight's meal!) to try.

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  7. yum! what great flavors :) i can't wait to try it later this summer.

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  8. Lesa, this looks so stinkin good. Have you considered writing a book? I know this isnt your recipe, but you really should think about creating a cookbook.

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  9. Evelyne CheapethniceatzMay 8, 2013 at 5:52 PM

    Not a big fan of summer squash but one way of making me like it is totally bacon and goat cheese :-) Love the name of his blog!

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  10. Yeah, it would definitely still be great without the bacon.

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  11. Thanks, Anne. I am unable to comment on blogs that have Intense Debate (for some annoying unknown reason), so I wanted to let you know that your crepes look delicious and way to go, branching out of your cooking comfort zone! As for favorite recipes, I don't know that I can pick a favorite. I have almost 500 recipes here, so that's a lot to choose from! My favorite meal of all time is probably a simple roasted chicken.

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  12. Thanks Trisha. Yes, hard to go wrong adding bacon to something! :)

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  13. Great idea about adding zucchini, Shelby. I love putting the two together. Sorry that my comment on your post didn't show up (must have forgotten to hit "submit" or something!). Your smoothie sounds terrific. Hope you liked the carrots too!

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  14. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, Sarah.

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  15. Thanks Savannah. I honestly have no idea how to go about doing that.

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  16. Yeah, bacon and cheese can make almost any food tolerable!

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  17. Perfect for when summer squash and zucchini are growing out our ears. Can't go wrong with bacon.

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  18. I updated my recipe indices (both alphabetical and categorical) to include asterisks next to the recipes I make on a regular basis, or have at least made more than once. Those would be my favorites.

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  19. What a great way to dress up squash. It must have been so flavorful.

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  20. Donalyn @ The Creekside CookNovember 4, 2013 at 6:13 PM

    This looks really good - definitely going on my "to try" list for this summer! I think we will like it better left whole as well, so glad that it worked well for you! cheers - Donalyn@ http://thecreeksidecook.com

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