Chaya is an amazingly easy to grow, perennial,
super nutritious plant from Mexico. Here is a link for more info:
Chaya Wikipedia This is a link to a page with a Power Point Presentation that contains a picture of a young chaya in my garden, along with other great plants that really love really hot weather!
Heat Loving Food Plants Chaya does contain some cyanogenic compounds (just like almonds chickpeas, cashews and flax seeds) so it should be cooked before eating, the water you cook it in is safe to use.
Easy Chaya and Sunflower SeedTostadas: Cut growing tips of chaya off the plants (about 4-5 inches of the stems and leaves).
- Trim up any of the cut ends that are tough or fibrous.
- Slice stems and leaves into ~quarter inch slices, ~2-3 cups, just cover with water and simmer at least ~15min and until tender.
- Drain and reserve some of the cooking water.
- In the same, now empty pan, saute some sliced onion in a little olive oil (and butter) and salt until tender.
- Add drained chaya, a little of the reserved cooking water (~1-2 tbls) and ~2 tbls of heavy cream (just enough for a bit of creaminess).
- Simmer for a minute and adjust salt.
- (Adding a bit of garlic and/or epizote here would also be delicious, but not necessary!)
-Toast corn tortillas over a gas burner (or in the oven) until partly crispy, no oil needed.
-Spoon some of the chaya over each toasted tortilla.
-Sprinkle with raw, unsalted sunflower seeds and ENJOY!