Comunidad Health Foods

Are you sick of jicama yet? I might be, a little, but only because I pretty much single-handedly went through that monster of a root on my own the other week. If people are what they eat, right now I’d  definitely be a big, dense brown root veggie about the size of a small child’s head. So then why am I telling you about more jicama, you ask? Well, mostly because I thought this Thai Jicama Slaw would be a nice segue way between the cilantro jicama recipe from last week and the Thai chicken recipe I have coming up. Plus, a lot of the recipes I’ve been trying lately need some more tweaking and aren’t really blog-ready yet, making it slim pickins around these parts for blogging.

This recipe really came out of my own head with the help of what (little) I know of Thai cuisine and a session of perusing the world wide web. Most jicama recipes you see will incorporate lime and cilantro, and while that’s fabulous (see Heck of a Jicama Salad for proof), I had just gotten through an entire Tupperware container full of that particular recipe. If I didn’t try something new and different, I was going to experience jicama burn out, fast. Thankfully, I also discovered during my research that jicama pairs well with Thai flavors. It just so happens that I had half of a red bell pepper, half of a cucumber, some carrots, sesame oil, and peanuts that I was trying to use up. Clearly, this was fate.

I’m just now realizing that I also had a Thai curry paste sitting in my fridge that I’m trying to use, that would have worked well in this, too. Can’t win ‘em all.

What came out of this abundance of jicama and odd other ingredients I wanted to use was pretty great! It’s not what I would call spicy food, but there is a kick that you get every couple of bites from the crushed red pepper. It’s just as crisp and fresh tasting as other wonderful jicama slaw recipes, yet it’s different from a lot of the flavors you tend to find in them. You could scale back the dressing if you want – it’s pretty heavily dressed, but even the fats used are healthy so don’t let it scare you too much. A lot of jicama recipes don’t call for oil at all. You could also use less jicama and more other ingredients – this would make the slaw a little more vibrant. I just used what I had on hand, and encourage you to do the same.

One Year Ago: Lazy Balsamic Chicken Skillet

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes plus approximately 30 minutes to cut jicama¹

Inactive Time: 1 hour

(printable recipe)

3 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons lime juice

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

375g sliced jicama (approximately half large jicama)

75g cucumber, julienned

40g shaved carrot (approximately 1 carrot)

65g red bell pepper slices

45g chopped snacking peanuts (approximately ¼ cup)

Whisk together the sesame oil, lime juice, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Add the remaining ingredients and toss well to mix the vegetables and fully coat them with the dressing. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Slaw will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days.

¹For instructions on how to cut a jicama, see this how-to post

Now that we’ve gone over the nitty gritty technique of how to cut a jicama, it’s time to get to the good stuff – the recipe. Jicama is a pretty versatile ingredient because of its mild flavor. Some people whisk up a simple lime vinaigrette to poor over julienned jicama for a raw, healthy take on fries. Other people chop up jicama and sprinkle it over their salad for a nice crisp crunch. This recipe uses jicama the way I like it best – as the basis for what is essentially a much cooler, hipper, tastier version of a slaw. It’s kind of like taking those jicama “fries” I just mentioned and putting them over a bed of lettuce. It’s sweet without added sugars, crunchy and crisp without any vats of oil, and bursting at the seams with flavor. If you’ve never had jicama before, this is a great first recipe to try. Once you do, let me know that you’re ready for the next step up with this other great jicama salad recipe I have waiting (im)patiently in the wings (this one, thai inspired)!

One Year Ago: El Diablo Black Bean Casserole

Two Years Ago: Vanilla Almond French Toast

Yield: 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 35 minutes (including chopping the jicama) plus 15 minutes down time

Cook Time: 0 minutes

(printable recipe)

½ large bulb jicama root, peeled and julienned

a sprinkling of coarse kosher salt

½ cup lime juice

1-2 hearts of romaine, coarsely chopped

¼ cup finely chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon ground cumin

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil¹

Place the jicama sticks in a very large bowl and sprinkle with salt and 2-4 tablespoons lime juice. Toss to coat, then fill the bowl completely with cold water. Let the jicama sit for 15 minutes before draining well.

Meanwhile, stir together 2-4 tablespoons of lime juice with the cilantro and cumin. Whisk in the olive oil to emulsify. Arrange the lettuce on a serving platter and top with the drained jicama. Pour the cilantro-lime dressing over the jicama as evenly as possible, and serve.

Leftovers may be kept refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Most of Rachael Ray’s recipes are fuss-free. They’re straight-up, straight-forward, and downright simple. Mostly. I like this about her recipes. Sometimes, I like putting on heirs and pretending I’m some gourmet chef who owns half a dozen Zagat-rated, 5 star restaurants peppering the entire globe. Like when I decided to make that ridiculously elaborate graduation cake. But a lot of times, it’s just nice to get in the kitchen, throw around some pots, pans, and ingredients, and come out with something perfectly edible though perhaps not all that photogenic.

I was a little surprised, then, when I encountered this recipe in Rachael Ray’s cookbook – couscous and vegetable stacks seemed entirely too fussy amidst the burgers, “sammies,” “stoups” and semi-homemade (oh wait, that’s another FoodNetwork show…) desserts. As good as the dish sounded, it took a while for me to get up the motivation to attempt it.

Rachael Ray’s approach to the stacking process is cumbersome, and antiquated as it tells you to use metal cans with their tops and bottoms removed. Cans aren’t made that way anymore – the bottoms don’t come off. Believe me, I tried. And tried. And handed the can to my mom to try some more. Don’t bother. Really, it’s way more involved than it needs to be. In the final throes of cooking, as I became more and more desperate to get food on the plate and into my belly, I did the biggest hack job of stacking I could think of – I just threw it on the plate. Almost, very nearly, quite literally. And you know what?

It worked. Beautifully.

So take that, Mr. Fussy Veggie Stack. This is how we do things Floptimism style.

Also à la Floptimism, I changed a bunch of the ingredients. It tasted fantastic. I also paired it with some chicken (for the parents) and a nice chickpea and almond salad (for all of us, but really, mostly for me).

This vegetarian dish is light, healthy, and bursting with summer-ness. That is, it would, if it were possible for a food to burst of a season. It is mildly labor intensive, but a lot easier to put together than the original and overall very doable. Enjoy!

Are you in need of a last minute side dish for the 4^th? If so, I have the perfect recipe for you (really, even if you don’t need a recipe for tomorrow, I still think you’ll like this Thursday, Friday, or sometime next week). Asparagus is one of my favorite warmer weather vegetables, and what better way to celebrate summer than adding fresh tomatoes and a little bit of cheese to make it a truly memorable side dish?

I’ve tweaked the recipe a little – lightly sautéing the asparagus to get a little char on all sides (you could also grill them; I just haven’t yet conquered my oh-my-god-I’m-a-girl-I-can’t-possibly-use-the-grill phobia – maybe next year), using mozzarella instead of feta (though the latter would add a nice tang to the dish – really, use whatever cheese you love most and it will probably be fantastic), and taking great care in straining out some of the excess liquid to perfect the package. What you get is a side dish that is simple (not bland!) and delicious. The tomato-cheese topping would be equally good in other ways – I added some to my jalapeno chicken sausage sandwich and it was spot. On. I’ve also made the entire dish with an omelet, but grilled chicken or burgers would be great pairings, too.