My Vegetable Picadillo

I have always referred to this dish as vegetable picadillo, but as I proceed to blog on this, I googled the word picadillo just to see what I would get...Well, it almost always seems to include ground beef mixed with various things (depending on the Latin decent), which is not what my recipe is at all! I remember my Ex mother-in-law cooking the ground beef picadillo with peas and potatoes (which was also very good) but I also remembered a vegetable picadillo, which in my mind basically means, 'a mix of whatever vegetables thrown together with garlic, tomato, cilantro, and chile peppers.' And at this point, I don't care anymore if the terminology is right. It has been in my head for all these years as such and so it is...My Vegetable Picadillo! (This is the kind of thing that happens when you become fluent in foreign language without ever actually taking a class.) I called a friend of mine whose first language is Spanish and she confirmed that there is no such thing as 'Vegetable Picadillo,' and that the dish I am referring to is actually called 'Calabazas a la Mexicana.' So, call it what you will, but this recipe is easy and delicious!

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Garlic (crushed or finely chopped)
Tomatoes (chopped)
Cilantro leaves
Serrano chiles (finely chopped or whole)

Your choice of the following vegetables:
Chayote squash
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Green Beans
Sugar snap peas
Snow peas
Corn (frozen or fresh)
Peas (frozen or fresh)

Salt and pepper to taste



Preparation
Chop garlic, tomatoes and your choice of veggies into bite size pieces.

Pull the leaves off the cilantro stems.

*I like to leave the chiles whole so that those who do not like spicy can easily see and avoid them and those of us who do enjoy spicy can cut off as much of the chile as desired to eat with our vegetables.

Heat olive oil in frying pan and add garlic and chiles first, then add your chopped veggies. (I put the vegetables in the order they should be added in the ingredient list, due to how fast they cook.)

Finally add tomatoes, cilantro leaves, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.



Serve as a side to fish, chicken, beef, eggs or by itself as a warm veggie snack on a cold winter day. Feel free to tweak this recipe...maybe add oregano or thyme instead of cilantro? Make up your own version of 'My Vegetable Picadillo!' Enjoy your veggies, they should be a treat to eat not a boring chore! And as always, let me know what you think, I would love to get your feedback!

Chayote....???

Chayo...who? Pronounced: chai-(like the tea)-o-tay. Chayote squash is my very favorite non-starchy squash! Well, it is techniqually a fruit, but so are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and countless other fruits that we call vegetables. I dare you to Google that one! What is a fruit and what is a vegetable? Depends who you ask. The answer is not black and white, that much is clear. Many nuts, beans and grains are also fruits. However, in the nutrition/cooking world, we classify many of these fruits by how they are prepared, the role they play on your plate and thier nutrional value.

Nutritional Value of Chayote: 1 cup = 25 Calories and has 2 grams of fiber



Remember fiber is a good thing! And is just one of the reasons why our first nutritional challenge is to eat 5 handfuls of fruits/vegetables everyday. Many whole wheat slices of bread have over 100 calories with only 2-3 grams of fiber. That's only a 1/4 of fiber this little chayote provides per 100 calories! So you can see why can see why fruits/vegetables are our best shot when it comes to getting enough fiber in your diet.

Okay, so let's eat some chayote!



Oven Roasted: Just cut in half, spray with olive oil, cover and cook at 375 for about 40 min. This one is topped with queso fresco and makes a great snack.



Sometimes chayote is boiled. And I like the way it turns out when you boil it, but just make sure to use your chayote broth in soup, rice or quinoa, so you don't throw out those nutrients that are left behind in the water.

Here it is served with dinner: Pollo Pipian (see the Going Green recipe) and quinoa (red and white). Delicious!



Chayote is a must try, if you haven't already. Chime in...I would love to hear your thoughts!