Who Knew? Chayote to the Rescue!

I saw a Texan lady “throw down” with Bobby Flay, and she tossed some sliced chayote on the grill.  I realized I’d never  tasted one, so I picked one up at the market for 70 cents.  It’s new to me, but this unusual veggie pear saved my pork chop dinner.  We hadn’t had good old home-style pork chops for a very long time, so I had some beautiful, thick-cut boneless chops that I did a standard breading of egg then Italian panko–quick fry in olive oil then into the 350 degree oven to finish.

Meanwhile, we got visiting in the kitchen as we caramelized onions  & garlic for our haricot vert (green beans for non-francofiles).  There may have been a glass of cabernet involved–anyway, the pork cooked long enough to be really dry.

Chayote was a curiosity & we had no idea how to prepare it so opted for a really simple slice & grill on a grill pan with butter and salt and pepper.  They quickly caramelized on the outside & looked beautiful beside the pork chop.  The happy surprise came when we took our first bite of chayote with the chop–a real party in the mouth!  The pork flavor was fabulous and the texture of the chayote was crisp tender and it had a  burst of juice  Delicious!

Now I’m curious about this ingredient and found a recipe in Food & Wine that I’m anxious to try.  If you have a good recipe using chayote you’d like to share, we’d love to try it.