DESPERATION DINNERS Recipe for handling summer's bounty By Beverly Mills, with Alicia Ross I count myself lucky to know so many gardeners willing to share their summer bounty. Until the peak hits. When bounty turns to glut, my gardening buddies get a desperate look in their eyes. "My squash are doubling in size overnight -- you must take a few more," my next- door neighbor orders. My brother's prolific string beans are driving him bananas. The bulging bags he was passing out at the family reunion guaranteed all of us beans for a week. Even at the local farmer's market, sweet corn is $3 for 14 ears. "I can't take that many ears," I say to the vendor. "I'm going out of town." "Well then, I'll have to charge you $2 for six," she warns. The ploy works, and I soon find that I'm the one trying to get rid of the extra corn by giving it to my already-vegetable-laden friends. My mother summed up the situation as she stood stirring four pots at once: "When you have it, you've got to cook it." Today's quick, low-fat recipe for Summer Stew was born out of just such desperation. It's designed to use up a lot of vegetables without bogging you down in front of the stove. Feel free to add extra beans, corn or peas from the overflowing supply that you may have on your hands. Menu: Summer Stew, cantaloupe slices, crusty rolls Summer Stew 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) vegetable broth 1-3/4 cup couscous 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 jumbo sweet onion (for 1-1/2 cups chopped) 1 pound zucchini (2 medium) 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic 1 pound yellow squash (2 medium) 1 pound ripe tomatoes (2 medium or 1 large) 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste 1. Pour 1 cup of the vegetable broth and 1-1/4 cups unsalted water in a 2-quart or larger saucepan and bring it to a boil. Continue with Step 2. When the water boils, stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and remove from the heat. Let it stand for 5 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, heat the oil on medium heat in an extra-deep, nonstick 12-inch skillet that has a lid. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the pan as you chop. Cook, stirring from time to time. 3. While the onion cooks, rinse the zucchini and cut them into 1/4-inch slices. When the zucchini are all cut, add all of the slices to the pan. Add the remaining 3/4-cup vegetable broth to the pan. Add the garlic. Cook, stirring from time to time. Rinse and cut the yellow squash into 1/4-inch slices, adding them to the pan as you slice. Stir from time to time. 4. Core the tomatoes but do not peel them. Cut the tomatoes into bite-size pieces, adding them to the pan as you cut. Cover the pan. Coarsely chop the basil leaves and add them to the pan. Add the salt and pepper. Recover the pan and cook, uncovering to stir from time to time, about 5 minutes or until the squash are tender but not mushy. Serve at once over a bed of hot couscous in bowls or soup plates. Serves 4 generously. Note: You can substitute chicken broth for vegetable broth in this recipe. If you don't have couscous, use rice. The stew is also delicious garnished with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Approximate Values Per Serving: 404 calories (10 percent from fat), 5 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 13 g protein, 79 g carbohydrates, 9 g dietary fiber, 522 mg sodium. Beverly Mills is a former food editor of the Miami Herald food section and a mother of two; Alicia Ross, a food columnist for The Raleigh News and Observer, also has two children. They have been living the desperate life for the past seven years. Their new cookbook, "Desperation Dinners!" is now available from Workman Publishing. Copyright 1999, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.