Green Chile Pesto and Roasted Chayote Squash Side Dish � Thanks, Rick!

If you�re going to steal one Rick Bayless recipe, you might as well steal two, which is exactly what I did here with this green chile pesto, and roasted chayote squash side dish. Like I said in the video, most great chefs encourage this type of thievery, as long as you give them credit, which I�m happy to do.

What I�m calling �Green Chile Pesto,� is really his Green Chile Adobo, but I thought my audience would better relate to a �pesto,� since that�s what this reminds me of the most. Although, I�m not sure how it would be in a pasta, and don�t have any immediate plans to find out.

What it was great in, was this very simple chayote squash dish, which is really more of a warm salad. If you can find chayote near you, I recommend you give it a try, but if not, grilled zucchini or other summer squash would also work, as would something like roasted acorn or delicata squash.

I�d try to choose a fairly mild olive oil for this, since we have enough heat and bitterness from the peppers. Which reminds me, don�t over blend this. While some chefs claim it�s just a wives tale, I�ve found that if you over-process an olive oil-based sauce, especially ones with garlic in them, it can get very bitter. Other than that, not much can go wrong, and so on behalf of Chef Bayless and myself, I�d like to say, we really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for the Green Chile Pesto:

6 Serrano peppers

1 Poblano pepper

6 cloves garlic, still in the paper

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 bunch Italian parsley

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or about 3/4 teaspoon fine salt)

3/4 cup mild tasting olive oil, or vegetable oil

juice from 2 fresh limes*

* You can add the lime right to the pesto if you�re going to use it all at once as a sauce for something, but this seems to keep longer in the fridge without it added in, and so I prefer to add it to whatever I�m using it with instead.

For the Chayote Squash Side Dish:

3 Chayote squash, cut in 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

juice from 1 lime (unless already added to your pesto)

2 or 3 heaping spoons of Green Chile Pesto

1/3 cup crumble soft goat cheese, plus more for the top

pumpkins seeds to garnish, optional

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