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Calabacitas with Pork Skewers

Calabacitas con puerco is a traditional comfort food with many variations, especially along the Mexico/Texas border. As a hearty stew in its authentic form, you can make it, freeze it, and keep it ready for a cold wintry day. When you start to crave it during warmer months, however, it's time to change it up a little - all Tex-Mex, of course!

By breaking out some of the ingredients for a grill, you can have both fresh air flavors along with a simmered side. Here, I've used a pork tenderloin and created strips for skewers, much like an Indonesian satay. After seasoning, they'll come off the grill with a nice char and crispiness to them. Calabacitas are simply Mexican squash or young zucchini. They're smaller and lighter in color with a mild flavor. If you don't have a local mercado, regular zucchini will do fine. They also go on the grill in slices to pair with the pork. I'll prepare the rest of this dish the authentic way and let it simmer for a couple of hours. It has all the basics for a great stew: corn, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and summer squash thickened with flour and tomato sauce.

While fresh ingredients are always nice, you can substitute canned tomatoes and canned corn. Once this goes on to simmer, you can forget about it. Also, revert back to the original if you decide not to grill. Just cube the pork loin and calabacitas, throw them in with the other ingredients and you'll have the perfect wintertime dish.

Calabacitas with Pork Skewers

Serves 4

For the stew:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large jalapeno, diced
4 roma tomatoes, chopped in mid-size chunks
2 summer squash, peeled and cut to mid-size chunks
1 Tablespoon flour
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 can tomato sauce
2 cups water (more as needed during simmering)
2 ears of corn, kernels removed

In a medium or large pot, saute the diced onion and jalapeno.
Reduce heat; add tomatoes and squash.
Coat with flour and seasonings.
Add tomato sauce, 1-2 cups water, and corn kernels.
Let simmer for about 2 hours.

For the grill:
1 small pork tenderloin
3 calabacitas
Oil and pepper for coating

Slice pork tenderloin into 1-inch strips.
Place in plastic bag and coat with oil, black pepper.
Slice calabacitas lengthwise and coat lightly with oil and black pepper or oil-based salad dressing.
Skewer the pork strips and place on grill - about 5-7 minutes each side.
Place calabacitas in metal basket or directly on grill. About 4-6 minutes each side.

Note: grilling times depend on thickness of food and heat of the fire.