What is the monthly ingredient challenge.  No Chefs Allowed started here.  We choose one ingredient or dish we haven’t worked with much or one we really want to learn more about.  We make it the focus of our kitchen adventures for 30 days.  By the end, the once mysterious foods become staples in our kitchen.  Expanding our adventures.  We thought if we could learn this way in the midst of our busy lives, so could you.  And it is a lot of fun cooking ‘together’ even though we live in different cities.

Megan has been putting this on the list of Monthly Ingredients for me to choose from for about a year.  I never pick it.  Until today.  And so far I’m glad I did.  It’s fresh.  It’s crispy … extremely crispy.  You can eat it raw or you can cook it.  I think it is going to prove very versatile.  Having showed it to a half dozen people here are some ways they have described it so far, a tasteless apple, lemony fresh, tastes like grass, crispy goodness.  Go get one and let me know how you would describe it.

And join our Monthly Ingredient Challenge and get to know the Chayote Squash like you never have before.  Practice with a few dishes and have yourself a dinner party to judge the results.  (Or do what I do … and have the dinner party without practicing.)  Here’s a link to our kick off on Good Day Columbus to see how we got started already with Chayote and Yogurt Dip and Chayote Slaw.