This chayote recipe turns a somewhat unfamiliar vegetable into a hearty, spicy Sonoran Mexican rice with black beans, corn, and cilantro. Chayote squash looks unusual in the market. They are pale green, pear-shaped, and wrinkled at one end. It tastes somewhere between a zucchini and a potato, mild and slightly crisp, and it absorbs bold flavors beautifully. This chayote recipe pairs it with brown basmati rice, serrano pepper, Spanish olives, and diced tomatoes in a one-pot dish that works as a side or a complete vegetarian meal. 

What does chayote look like — pale green chayote squash, a Sonoran borderlands vegetable

Chayote (pronounced chy-OH-tay) is a member of the gourd family. It grows throughout Mexico, Central America, and the American Southwest. Markets in Tucson and the Sonoran borderlands carry it year-round. Most Sonoran recipes don’t use it often, which makes this dish a genuine find. Chayote holds its shape during cooking better than zucchini and doesn’t turn mushy the way potatoes can. Peel it, remove the single flat seed in the center, and dice it like you would any firm squash. It takes on the flavor of whatever it cooks with. In this case, serrano chile, garlic, cumin, and a rich vegetable or chicken stock. The Spanish olives are the Sonoran touch that sets this rice apart from any other Mexican rice recipe you’ve tried.