The Marché Jean-Talon in Montréal is one of the largest green markets in North America and filled with so many different varieties of juicy fruit, ripe vegetables, aromatic flowers and, of course, numerous fresh food samples – it was love at first sight! Many local farmers, as well as farmers from other provinces (bring on the Ontario corn!), set up shop here every single day and are generous enough to let you try their crop. I must try a juicy peach from every vendor just to be sure I pick the perfect one – I couldn’t stop! If you didn’t fill up on samples, they have a crêpe stand in the market, a cheese and bread store just across the street to go with the sweet jam you bought from the market, and a few local restaurants and bars just around the corner. This was regrettably our last stop before leaving Montréal and hitting the road back to NYC, so I was only allowed to buy a few of my favourites to eat in the car before getting to the border crossing (*cough* I may have forgotten I had a plum in my purse *cough*). Had I known how big this market was going to be I would have made this the first stop so I could munch on fresh fruit for the entire weekend. Needless to say, I was inspired and couldn’t wait to go to my local market to make some kind of fresh veggie dish.

When I go to these green markets, I love to buy everything that looks beautiful but I often come back home and say to myself, “Now what?” Succotash is the perfect dish to marry all of those fresh vegetables that you just bought. Succotash always contains lima beans and corn but can have many variations  of vegetables after that, so it’s really not too easy to mess this up. The basil mixed with the sautéed onions and peppers gives it a bit of a deep cinnamon flavour. How that happened, I have no clue, but damn is it good! This is my favourite succotash combination but don’t be afraid to have fun with it by adding more (or less) spice or any extra vegetables you have lying around.

Ingredients:

• 1 10oz package lima beans
• 1 corn, cut off the cob
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
• 8-10 grape tomatoes, chopped
• 1 orange bell pepper, chopped (any colour pepper will do)
• 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbsp basil, chopped
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ tsp lemon pepper
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Preparation:

In a large sauté pan, heat the coconut oil on medium heat. Add in the first 5 ingredients and cook for about 6-8 minutes, until the veggies start to soften and onions become translucent. Add in the tomatoes, bell pepper, lemon pepper, salt and pepper and cook for one minute. I like to have the tomatoes and bell pepper a tad on the crunchy side but you can cook them longer, if desired. Turn the heat off and mix in the basil and cilantro. Enjoy warm or chilled!