Bacon Chayote Saute

What? How do bacon and chayotes have anything to do with a blog devoted to pantry or food storage cooking. Well hold on and I will tell you.

I pretty much like to believe that I live the real life version of Food Network's Chopped. I have to make awesome food from what I get. A couple times a month I order a veggie/fruit basket from a food co-op. For $15 I get an amazing amount of produce. But it is always a surprise. Especially when I get things like chayotes (which I have never cooked or eaten before.) I am a big believer in eating seasonal produce.

So this week I got 6 chayotes. They look like this.

And I got a care package from Foodbuzz and Tostitos offering some new dip seasonings to try. Now I do actually store powdered dip seasonings. I think of them as emergency seasoning or easy solutions for impromptu parties at my house that require delicious dip. I do have issues with some of these dip starters. I hate MSG and so I rarely buy the Hidden Valley seasonings. I was pretty excited to discover that the new Tostitos dip starters have no MSG. And the Golden Onion flavor sounded different.

Well back to the Chopped episode of my life. I decided to come up with a recipe using Chayotes and the Golden Onion dip starter from Tostitos. And some bacon (in case I hated the chayote flavor)

Turns out I love chayotes. They are like the most exotic squash ever, being that they combine a little cucumber, green apple and squash in one. Sounds weird but they are tasty raw in a salad and they absorb flavors well when sauteed to a just crisp/tender stage. I absolutely love this delicious side dish that I came up with.

This post was entered in the Denny's and Foodbuzz baconalia contest.

Bacon Chayote Saute

2 Chayote peeled, pitted and chopped.
2 Tb of margarine or butter
1/2 onion diced.
2 slices of bacon chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
1/2 bag of Tostitos golden onion dip mix (or other dip mix flavor)

Heat butter or margarine in saute pan. Add onion, bacon and green pepper to pan and cook until onions are tender.

Toss chopped chayote with dip mix and add to saute pan. Cook and stir occasionally until chayote is tender crisp.

Serve immediately