Chayote???

Yesterday, The Lovely Andrea came home from the store, as she does from time to time, with an ingredient I had never cooked before. She presented me with 3 chayote squash and challenged me to cook them.

I had never cooked this vegetable before, so I started to do some research. It seems like most recipes make a soup or include it in a salad. I wanted to actually cook it and NOT put it in a soup, so I ended up boiling and peeling the chayote, then baking the squash with roasted vegetables, eggs, cream, jalepeño, and cheese. It was a nice vegetarian dish that my family dug into with gusto.

 

Chayote asada y coliflor con huevos en el queso

Ingredients:

3 chayote, cut in half

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 shallot quartered

1 onion quarteded

1 large jalepeño diced

1/2 cup cream, half and half or whole milk

3 eggs

1/4 cup oilive oil

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack and Cheddar mix

3/4 cup Mexican crumbly cheese

flour tortillas

1 cup iceberg lettuce chiffonade

1 tomato diced

salt & pepper

salsa

Pre-heat oven to 350º

Bring a pot of water to boil, add he chayote and cook for 20 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile rub the other veggies (except jalepeño) with olive oil, salt & pepper, and roast in the oven around 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

When chayote are tender, peel and quarter them and add to pan with the roasted vegetables. pour cream over the vegetables, crack the eggs and drop them into the pan, add a dash of salt and pepper,

Cover with the cheese mixture and finally the crumbly cheese, and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. The crumbly cheese does not melt like the other cheese so it should be the final ingredient, it adds a nice texture to the topping.

 

I served the dish with a lightly toasted flour tortilla, (toasted on my griddle,) topped with iceberg lettuce chiffonade and chopped tomato... and salsa.

A pretty tasty dish, I'll definitely cook chayote again.