Brown Butter Summer Squash and Cucumber Linguine

I've had a summer squash and a cucumber sitting in my fridge for a fair amount of time. The reason they've been chillin' there is because I couldn't decide just what I should do with them. Bread? No. Salad? Meh, too boring. Cookies? Tempting, but no. Unfortunately, when I began searching for other kinds of recipes, bread, salad, and cookies were the only things that showed up. Until! By complete chance I came across this recipe, which looked promising. It turned out exactly as I hoped it would. Because of the short cooking time, the julienned pieces stayed crunchy and hot rather than turning into limp, soggy squash/cucumber mush...yuck. The browned butter and cashews gave it a rich nutty flavor, while the lemon juice kept it zesty and fresh. Quick and light, it was a perfect meal for me, but you could also use it as a side dish.

1 Medium Summer (Yellow) Squash
1 Medium Cucumber
2 T Unsalted Butter
2 T Chopped Cashews
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Dried Parsley
1 tsp Lemon Juice

1. Trim the ends off the squash and cucumber. Julienne the them lengthwise until you reach the seed core. Discard the core. Separate any strips that are sticking together.

2. In a 10-inch saute pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and swirl the butter around in the pan. Cook the butter until it reaches a nutty brown color, about 2 minutes. Immediately add the squash and salt and toss with tongs until squash is coated with butter. Cook until slightly limp, about 1 minute.

3. Remove pan from heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice and toss to mix. Taste and add more lemon, if desired. Transfer to serving dish or plates and garnish with a little parsley.

Mahlzeit!
-Coriaunty