Egyptian Edamame Stew: Learning to Sweat the Good Stuff



Just 5 minutes ago, I relented and agreed to put my window ac unit into my room for the night. It seems incongruous that I’m now sitting down to tell you about a delicious stew – something much more typical of a cooler month. For the most part, I do tend to gravitate towards lighter, tapas-style meals in the summer and heartier, piping-hot one-dish meals in the winter; however, every once in a while, to put it bluntly, sweating it out over a hot bowl of food can actually be refreshing, cathartic even.

It helps that the stew I want to tell you about isn’t a heavy beef stew, weighed down by lots of braised meat or otherwise heavy ingredients. It’s an Egyptian Edamame Stew, making it slightly lighter by nature and infinitely more appealing to even the staunchest seasonal food traditionalists during these hot months. I ate it on its own, which left me feeling just shy of perceptibly full, but adding a nice piece of naan or pita would be pretty perfect on the side, too. This is hearty without being overwhelming, savory with a touch of sweetness from the tomatoes, and – if you don’t forget to add it at the last minute like I did – I can imagine that the lemon juice heightens all of the other flavors and gives it that extra something that I felt was missing in my own version.

This Egyptian Edamame Stew comes from Eating Well, and since I’m shockingly not blabbering on and on about the dish itself, I think it’s a good time to stop and gush about how much I love this site instead. I stumbled upon it early on in my cooking adventures, and I don’t think I’ve made a bad meal from it yet. The recipes are always at least moderately healthy and are made with relatively common ingredients, and I’ve never had a problem following the instructions. The food is consistently good, too, which is really the most important thing. So if you’re not already hooked like I am, definitely head on over to their site and browse around a little bit. It’s one of my favorite go-to sites for recipes, for sure.

Egyptian Edamame Stew, courtesy of Eating Well
Yield: 4-5 servings

The Ingredients
15 ounces (about 3 cups) frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
dash of cayenne pepper
28 ounces diced tomatoes
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons lemon juice

The Method
Cook the edamame according to the package, either by boiling for several minutes until tender or softening in the microwave with a scant amount of water.

Meanwhile, place the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat and add the onion. Cover and cook, stirring sporadically, until the onions begin to soften, approximately 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and cover again, cooking for an addition 3 or so minutes until the onions start to brown. Add in the garlic, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, stirring until fragrant, roughly 30 seconds. Finally, stir in the tomatoes and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to reduce slightly, roughly 5 minutes. Stir in the edamame and heat through, roughly 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and lemon juice.


 

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