Calabacitas con queso (Mexican zucchini and corn)
Zucchini, yellow squash, sweet corn and green chiles cooked down with melty cheese and tucked into warm corn tortillas.
- 35 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.83 a serving
- 480 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 zucchini, cut into ½-inch dice
- 2 yellow squash, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1½ cups frozen corn
- 1 can diced green chiles
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 12 corn tortillas
- ¼ cup cotija cheese, crumbled (optional)
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 480 calories, 20 g protein, 62 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $2.83 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, zucchini, squash and tomatoes and the garlic before you turn on the stove.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large over medium heat.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heat
Cook the onion until soft and see-through, about 4 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Add the garlic, cumin and oregano and stir for 30 seconds.
Medium heat
Add the zucchini, squash and salt. , stirring now and then, until just tender with a little bite left, 6 to 8 minutes.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Stop while they still hold their shape. They keep softening once the corn goes in.Stir in the corn, green chiles and tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes and everything is hot, 4 to 5 minutes.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Turn the heat to low, scatter the cheese over, cover and let it , about 2 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Low heatTimer: 2 min
Warm the tortillas one at a time in a dry over medium-high heat, about 30 seconds per side, and stack them in a towel.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Spoon the calabacitas into the tortillas and finish with cotija and a squeeze of lime.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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