The squash keeps coming in this summer. Faced with more yellow crookneck and zucchini than I know what to do with, I made a very simple but awesome dish today. It’s something I’ve made often before, but I discovered today two new tricks that made it much better.

I took equal parts zucchini and yellow crookneck; I didn’t measure either, but I had one large zucchini, and four smallish yellows. I sliced them as thin as I could get them, which I’d never done before. By the time I was finished, I had about two cups of squash. This took more time, of course, but it turned out to have been a smart move.

I also sliced one yellow onion very thin. You have to have a very sharp and precise knife for this, and be patient. I chopped two large garlic cloves as well.

I heated a generous pour of olive oil in a saute pan, and when it became fragrant, added the squash and onions, salted them, and softened them. After three minutes or so of that, I added the chopped garlic. And then I put in a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes.  Do you have them where you live? They’re simply diced tomatoes with chilies. I put the Ro-Tels in, turned the heat down, and let them simmer for a few minutes.

I tell you, it was one of the simplest and tastiest things I’ve made in a long time. I soaked the juices out of the bowl with a baguette. It tasted like summer, bigtime. The Ro-Tels made a big difference, with the tomato juice, and a bit of bite from the peppers. I’ve made this dish before, without the tomatoes, and by slicing the squash a bit thicker. Wafer-thin is definitely the way to go (with the onions too). For some reason, it makes the flavors meld better, and the overall texture is definitely superior. We still have more squash to use; I think when I make some tomorrow, I’ll dust it with some fresh-grated Parmesan cheese, to see what that tastes like.

Julie made the Fancypants King Ranch chicken casserole from the Homesick Texan cookbook. Apparently this is one of those Texas comfort food things. Tasted really good to me, and my Louisiana family went nuts over it. Julie loves this cookbook, ergo, I highly recommend it to you if you’re a homesick Texan, or married to one. I don’t much care for chocolate cake, but the Texas sheet cake recipe from that book is insanely delicious. I’m not a baker, so I don’t know what makes this particular cake so freaking good, but I think it might have something to do with boiling the cocoa.