Chayote Recipes - How to Cook With Chayote

The chayote is a root vegetable, which has been cultivated in Mexico since pre-Columbian times. Boil, fry, pickle, or mash chayote, make stews or casseroles with it, use it in soup, eat it raw in salad or stuff and bake it. It can also be used in other Mexican food recipes.

This ingredient has a crisp flesh and the vegetable itself is green, pear-shaped, and smooth on the outside. This vegetable has been used medicinally for many years and the leaves can be made into a tea to help with hypertension and kidney stones.

Most of them come from Costa Rica, and Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala are also large producers. This root vegetable can be found in many grocery stores in the United States and they are being grown in California, Louisiana, and Florida.

Firm, smooth ones are better than wrinkled ones, because they are fresher. Chayote is similar to squash so you can substitute it in any squash recipe. Sometimes it is difficult to find chayote and, if that is the case, you can usually substitute squash in any chayote recipes.

Recipe for Mexican Beef and Chayote Soup

The following recipe combines beef with cilantro, onion, tomatoes, carrots and more, for a nutritious and flavorful soup. This recipe serves eight people and it is aromatic rather than spicy.

What you will need:

2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 lbs beef shank on the bone
3 cups beef broth
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1 chopped onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 quartered chayotes
2 husked ears corn, cut into thirds
1 cabbage, in wedges
1 quartered potato
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 chopped carrots
4 cups water

For the garnish:

1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapenos
2 limes, quartered
4 radishes, quartered
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

How to make it:

Cut the meat off the bones into half inch pieces. Leave some of the meat on the bones. Heat a heavy pot over a moderate to hot flame. Add the oil to the pot, and then add the meat, bones and some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring all the time, until the meat is brown. Add the onion and cook until golden brown, then add the broth and tomatoes. If the broth does not cover the bones by half an inch, add some water.

Simmer for an hour, over a low heat, with the lid loosely covering the pot, or until the meat is tender. Add the water, carrot, and cilantro and cook for ten more minutes, then add the corn, chayote and potato. Simmer the soup until the vegetables are soft, then add the cabbage, and cook for ten minutes. Divide the soup between eight soup bowls, garnishing each one with the minced onion, jalapenos, cilantro, and radishes. Squeeze lime juice over the soup to taste.

If you want to make authentic Mexican recipes, try using authentic Mexican ingredients such as chayote, squash, corn, potatoes and cilantro. There are many easy Mexican recipes you can make with fresh produce and a few herbs and spices, and Mexican cooking is easy enough for even a beginner cook to master.

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