The Healthy Chef

Chaya, an ancient Mayan vegetable, tastes great and is healthy too!

My mother always told me to eat locally, it supports local business, and it is always fresh and in season when you eat what is available in your community. She even wrote a song about it; Eating Collard Greens and Fish . This being said it is a good thing to keep in mind when shopping for your next meal. Although I must admit I miss certain foods from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest like salmon, and steamed clams; there are some delicious foods available to us here.

When I first moved to Playa del Carmen I had never even heard of Chaya, but upon further research and tasting I found it to be a healthy and delicious substitute for spinach. I would compare it more to chard because it has a bit of a spicy flavor to it. Not only is it a great vegetable but it is packed with vitamins and health benefits as well. It has twice the protein of spinach and ten times as much Vitamin C as an orange when compared by weight, and it also is a great source of iron and calcium.

Chaya is a little known leafy green vegetable of dry regions of the tropics, and is a large leafy shrub that reaches a height between 6 and 8 feet. The name comes from the Mayan chay, and it is a favorite garden vegetable of the ancient Maya because it is easy to grow, and can be easily reproduced by propagating stem cuttings from another plant. Other common names are tree spinach, chaya col, kikilchay, and chaykeken. 

The leaves are prepared much like spinach. Chaya must be cooked, however, because of the presence of cyanogenic glucosides . You can boil Chaya for about 10 minutes, with a bit of salt to preserve vitamin c levels, steam, fry, or microwave for 10 minutes and that will remove any toxins from the leaves. The use of gloves during harvesting is suggested to protect your hands from tiny spines that are on the leave, these are eliminated after cooking. Some varieties of Chaya that are grown do not have spines on them at all. Younger leaves and a bit of the stems are cut and used much like spinach. Large leaves are cut into smaller pieces before cooking. A simple way to serve Chaya is to simmer the leaves for about 20 minutes and then serve with oil or butter, salt and pepper. But if you would like t try something a little bit more complex check out this tamale recipe! So the next time you are at DAC pick up some Chaya and check it out for yourself, Buen Provecho!

CHAYA TAMALES

3 garlic cloves
¼ cup of chopped onion
½ spoon of yellow or green chili or two green serrano chilies
1 cup of beef broth, cold
750 grams tamale flour
2 cups of chaya leaves, cooked and chopped
1 cup of beef broth, hot
200 grams of melted lard, hot
1/4 cup of chopped coriander
4 corn husks or banana leaves

Blend the garlic, onion, chili and one cup of broth, keep it apart. Mix the flour, chaya, hot broth, salt, lard, coriander and the mix you prepared before. Beat it by hand until all the ingredients are mixed. Divide the dough in four or six and wrap each one of them in a tamale leave. Cook in a steam pot on high for one hour after the water boils. Turn the flame off and leave the tamales there for twenty minutes.

Recipe courtesy of snack recipes 

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