Recipe: Summer Squash Hash With Yogurt Sauce

Adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, this method balances the sweetness of summer squash with the heat of cayenne and the tang of yogurt. Though not a particularly attractive dish, it was enough to turn the writer's disdain for summer squash into praise.

Serves one generously

For the yogurt sauce:
    • 1 cup plain yogurt
    • 1⁄3 cup feta cheese
    • ¾ tsp Hungarian paprika (substitute cayenne if you want more heat)
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 clove garlic

For the hash:
    • 1 medium summer squash
    • olive oil
    • salt

Mix together the yogurt and feta cheese, mashing the cheese against the back of a fork to break it up into small pieces. Grind the garlic into a paste with a mortar and pestle, and add it to the yogurt mixture. Add the salt and paprika or cayenne, and stir until thoroughly combined.

Grate the summer squash into a coarse hash.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, then add the summer squash and salt and sauté until some pieces are browned, which will take about 10 minutes.

Pile the squash on a plate and top with a few tablespoons sauce. Toss to mix together.

Anastatia Curley is the former Communications Coordinator of the Yale Sustainable Food Project.