TWO CHAYOTES MAKE DINNER

 

Found at the farmers' market--chayote, a vegetable that can sub for either zucchini or potatoes.

Left on my doorstep: a bag with the remains of my neighbor’s trip to the farmers’ market—thumb-sized avocados a heap of glowing persimmons and a pair of knobbly chayotes. This neighbor has an eye for what's unusual—she previously has passed along bunches of purslane, branches of fresh dates, white eggplant and red chard.

Finger avocados have no pits!

The avocados are tiny, but with no pits and edible skin (I prefer to peel them). We consumed them in a day. The persimmons are waiting their turn. 

I got a lot of mileage from those two little chayotes—they were the starting point for a whole vegetarian meal. 

Chayote (Sechium edule) is a member of the same family as cucumbers, squash and melon. In Spanish markets it’s called papa del moro, or "Moorish potato," a misleading name, as the vegetable was unknown in Spain in Moorish times. Chayote comes from the New World. It's also known as mirliton and patata voladora, or "flying potato," as it swings from climbing vines. It has a remarkable similarity to potatoes (but is very low carb). 

Chayote on its own is really bland, but it readily takes on spices and flavors. It’s good raw or cooked, peeled or unpeeled. Try chayote in a gratin dish with cheese or as a replacement for potatoes in Hanukkah latkes (potato pancakes).

My chayote menu: Starter: Leek, Potato and Chayote Soup; Main; Vegetable-Noodle Kugel, Side dish: Bean and Chayote Salad.

The starter: a comforting soup with chayote, leeks and potatoes. 

Main dish: vegetarian flan of chayote and spinach with noodles.

Side dish: crisp, raw chayote with butter beans and green beans.

Leek, Potato and Chayote Soup

Crema de Chayote con Puerros y Patatas

Chayote seed is also edible.

Serves 4.

¼ cup olive oil

2 leeks, washed and chopped

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 chayote, diced

1 large potato, diced

1 teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika)

Sprig of thyme or pinch of dried thyme

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of cayenne

4 cups water

1 cup light cream or evaporated milk

Chopped scallions or chives to serve

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the chopped leeks, garlic and diced chayote. Sauté them on medium heat until soft, but not browned, 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, pimentón, thyme, salt, pepper and cayenne. Add water and bring it to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until the vegetables and potato are very soft, about 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until pureed. Add the cream or evaporated milk. Reheat, but do not let the soup boil.

Serve the soup sprinkled with additional pimentón and scattered with chopped scallions.

Vegetable-Noodle Kugel

Pastel de Verduras con Tallarines

I started out to make cuajado, a vegetable flan or timbale. I added cooked noodles to the custard mix, turning the dish into a sort of kugel. 

Serves 4.

4 ounces egg noodles, cooked and drained

Olive oil

½ cup milk

1 cup chopped green onions

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 chayote, peeled and diced

8 ounces chopped fresh spinach

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

5 eggs

¼ cup Greek yogurt

8 ounces fresh goat cheese or cottage cheese

Grated fresh nutmeg

Poppy seeds or dill seeds (optional)

¼ cup grated cheese (such as Manchego)

Place the cooked noodles in a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and the milk and stir to mix.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a deep skillet. Sauté the onions and garlic 5 minutes without letting them brown. Add the chayote and continue cooking a few minutes. Add the spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and cook until spinach is wilted. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Oil a cazuela or oven-safe casserole.

Combine the eggs, yogurt and goat cheese in a food processor. Process until smooth. Stir the egg-cheese mixture into the noodles in the mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, nutmeg and poppy seeds, if using. Add the sautéed vegetables and mix well.

Pour the vegetable-noodle mixture into the oiled casserole. Smooth the top. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake until the custard mixture is set (skewer comes out clean), about 25 minutes. Serve the kugel hot, warm, room temperature or cold. 

Bean and Chayote Salad

Ensaladilla de Judiones con Chayote

I used a jar of judiones, fat, white butter beans, and crisp-cooked romano green beans for this salad. Both the butter beans and raw chayote improve by marinating in the vinaigrette. But the green beans should be added right before serving so that the vinegar doesn’t leach out their bright green color.

Other ingredients that would be good in this salad: radish, celery, avocado, cherry tomatoes, jalapeño, corn kernels, 

Serves 4.

1 cup peeled and diced chayote

1 cup cooked and drained butter beans

¼ cup chopped scallions

2 tablespoons chopped red bell pepper

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Oregano

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar

1 cup cooked and drained romano green beans

Chopped cilantro or parsley to serve

Salad greens to serve (optional)

Combine the chayote, butter beans, scallions and bell pepper. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Add the oil and vinegar and stir to combine. Let the salad marinate 1 hour or, refrigerated, up to 24 hours. Add the green beans, cut in ½-inch pieces, shortly before serving the salad.Garnish with cilantro or parsley. Serve in a bowl or on individual plates with salad greens, if desired.

GNARLY VEGETABLES

Parsnips and other lumpen vegetables. Clockwise from top left, chayote, rutabaga, spaghetti squash, kohlrabi and parsnips.

I have a thing about parsnips. I used to pack them in my luggage when returning from a trip to the U.S. That was before they turned up in local markets. I love parsnips pan-roasted alongside a chicken or mashed with olive oil.   

I also quite like other knobbly, gnarly, lumpen vegetables such as rutabaga, kohlrabi, celeriac and chayote. Except for chayote, none of these uglies were grown in southern Spain. Now, the European common market brings all sorts of “exotic”  produce even to my small village.

Except for their lumpy shapes, these vegetables are not related. However, they are all good either raw or cooked. They all somewhat resemble potatoes—although with a much lower carb count. They all are improved with lashings of olive oil or butter, bacon or cream.

Celeriac or celery root (apio-nabo) is the beauty of the bunch. This vegetable (Apium graveolens) has a pronounced celery flavour, but without the stringy fibres of celery stalks. It's crisp and crunchy when raw (shredded with remoulade sauce for a classic French bistro salad) or wonderfully smooth and creamy when pureed, as in celery root soup. I love it diced in any vegetable soup.

Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea). In Spanish, this is colinabo. But, so little is it known in Spain that the nomenclature is often confused with that of the rutabaga. Kohlrabi is a cultivar of wild cabbage. In spite of its appearance, it is not a root, but the thickened stem of a "broccoli" plant (sort of). I like it, thinly sliced, in stir-fry dishes, a crisp substitute for water chestnuts.  

Chayote (Sechium edule) is a member of the cucurbitacea family that includes cucumbers, squash and melon. In Spanish markets I knew it as papa del moro, or "Moorish potato," a misleading name, as the vegetable was unknown in Spain in Moorish times. It comes from the New World. It's also know as patata voladora, or "flying potato," as it swings from climbing vines. It has a remarkable similarity to potatoes (but is very low carb). I used it in a gratin dish with cheese and, grated with potato, for latkes (potato pancakes) made with chickpea flour and Indian spices.

Rutabaga (Brassica napobrassica) looks like a giant turnip. It's actually a cross between the turnip and cabbage families. The name comes from the Swedish word for "lumpy root." Rutabaga is also known as "Swede" and "neep." In Spanish it is nabo sueco. Rutabaga is a good substitute for potatoes (or, thanks to its yellow color, for sweet potatoes). It's milder than turnips in flavour, earthy and slightly sweet. 

Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) are related to carrots (chirivìas in Spanish).  They are decidedly sweet, delicious roasted or pureed.

Rutabaga and Potato Mash
Nabo Sueco con Patatas

Rutabaga mashed with potatoes and garlic makes a fine side dish with sausages and black-eyed peas.

In this recipe you could use any of the featured vegetables in place of rutabaga—parsnips, chayote, kohlrabi or celeriac. If a whole head of garlic seems excessive, use just two cloves, cooked and mashed with the vegetables.

Rutabaga needs long cooking to render it soft enough to mash, so start it before the potatoes. 

Serves 6.

¾ pound rutabaga
¾ pound potatoes
1 small head of garlic
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Rutabaga is pale yellow.

Peel the rutabaga and cut in 1 ½ -inch cubes. Peel potatoes and cut them in half. Slice the top off the head of garlic. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rutabaga and cook for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and garlic to the pot and cook until they are tender when pierced with a skewer, 20 minutes. Drain the vegetables, reserving about ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Separate the head of garlic.

Mash potatoes and rutabaga.

Add the cream cheese and oil to the drained vegetables. Mash them with a potato masher or put through a ricer. Add enough of the reserved cooking liquid to make a smooth mixture. 

Squeeze the cloves of garlic out of their skins. Mash them in a small bowl, then blend into the vegetables along with pimentón, salt and pepper. 

Serve immediately or place in a lightly oiled casserole and reheat in a medium oven.

Mashed rutabaga and potatoes.

Mashed rutabaga and potatoes with chorizo criollo and black-eyed peas.

Go ahead, mix it all together!

More recipes for gnarly veggies:

Savory Parsnip Upside-Down Cake.

Vegetable Chips.
Roasted Root Vegetables.
Crushed Parsnips with Wild Boar.

Chayote cookbook (in Spanish). https://inta.gob.ar/sites/default/files/script-tmp-inta-_papa_del_aire_2015_-_paran.pdf