Louisiana Style Green Beans 'n' Summer Squash

Lately I have been starting my vegetable sautees with the trinity of Cajun cooking. I have heard the trinity stated as celery, bell pepper and onion (by Emeril and my buddy Jeff who's Cajun descended Dad starts his dishes with that combination). I have also read in John Thorne's Serious Pig (I highly recommend all of his books) that the trinity is onions, green onions and bell peppers. What I have done is combine both using what I will call the quadrillegy of all 4 ingredients.

Louisiana Style Green Beans 'n' Summer Squash

Green Beans topped and tailed
1 T Oil or Butter
1 Bell Pepper cut into large dice
1 Onion cut into large dice
1 Bunch Green Onions sliced thinly
1/2 Cup Celery sliced thinly
2 Cloves Garlic minced
3 Medium Small Zucchinis sliced 1/2" thick
Salt & Pepper

Bring a large amount of salted water to a boil over high heat in a large soup pot. Add the green beans and return to a boil. Cook for 3 - 8 minutes depending on how fresh your beans are and how tender you like them. I did 5 minutes.

Drain beans and run cold water over them to stop cooking.

Add oil or butter (I used olive oil) to large pot over high heat. When oil is shimmering or when the butter has foamed up but is not yet brown, add the bell pepper, onion, green onion, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. (And Cajun seasoning if you have it) Stir to coat with oil and cook stirring frequently until the vegetable begin to brown.

Ignore the habanero. I have been experimenting with using whole habaneros, pierced or

unpierced, with a mind to get some habanero fruitiness without so much heat. More on this later.

Add the zucchini to the pot, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally,  until tender. The squash should exude enough liquid to deglaze the pot. If not, add enough water, broth, wine, beer to keep the stuff at the bottom of the pot from being burnt.

Add the beans and cook until heated through.

Being that I did not have Cajun seasoning in the house, (or BAM! as it is sometimes cringeingly called) I added some chipotle taco sauce when I added the beans. A very inauthentic cheat with delicious results.

Shrimp13