As noted above, this is less a recipe than a way of thinking about summer vegetables, so I’ll give an idea of what’s pictured here. I used one summer squash, a round variety, a handful of cherry tomatoes-maybe 1/4 ounce/25grams, roughly the same amount of cucamelons (we wanted to taste them; think cucumber crossed with watermelon), three large garlic cloves, and some fava beans. (Cooking favas discussed below).

I used the juice of a lemon, olive oil, and some Noilly Prat Vermouth to keep the pan moist. The pan is a Netherton Foundry Prospector Pan. It was a gift from my husband.

I washed, trimmed, and sliced the vegetables, then placed the pan over low heat, added the lemon juice, olive oil (about two tablespoons), and around a 1/4 cup/25ml of Vermouth. I tossed all the vegetables in at once, raised the heat to medium, added salt and pepper, then let everything cook down. John ended up working a bit later, so I moved the pan to a small burner, put it on the lowest heat, and covered it.

In all, the vegetables sat on the stove about an hour. We ate it with David Lebovitz’s Chicken Lady Chicken, from My Paris Kitchen, and basmati rice.

Leftovers may be refrigerated up to three days. Freezing is not recommended.

Note:

Variations are endless: add goat, parmesan, or feta cheeses; vary the spicing, add fresh herbs like parsley and/or cilantro. A dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche has its place.

Seasonings, as mentioned in the post, can run from simple salt and pepper to hot pepper or sumac; modify the dish to suit your tastes and whatever else is being served.

To prepare fava beans: remove from pods, then drop beans into a pot of simmering water. Cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size and age of your beans; older and larger means longer cooking. Strain the beans. Once they’re cool enough to handle, peel the outer skins off the beans. They should come off easily. The favas are now ready for further cooking or may be eaten as is.