Chayote

Roughly pear-shaped and -sized, with uneven furrows running its length, the versatile chayote (chy-O-tay) may be celadon, alabaster-cream, or dark green in color. It may have a fairly smooth skin or a hairbrush-like array of nonsticking prickles covering it. The pale flesh is crisp and fine-textured, with a taste and consistency that blend cucumber, zucchini, and a bit of kohlrabi. Although I have read about many different sizes and varieties of chayote, I have usually encountered the pale ice-green or apple-green ones, either deeply ridged or rather smooth-skinned. Free of soft, spiny protrusions, unlike many varieties, these generally weigh from ½ to 1 pound, with ¾ the average specimen.