Have you ever eaten jicama? It is a large round Mexican tuber with a bark-like skin on the outside. Although it doesn’t look like much from its exterior, below the skin jicama is a white vegetable that is mild, juicy, and crunchy. When our kids were hesitant, Debbie explained the taste as if a potato and an apple (two things they love) could have a baby, it would taste like a jicama!

Jicama is said to be high in Vitamins C, E, A & K. Although it is a root vegetable, it is low in starch, sugar and carbs—and quite high in prebiotic fibers (the foods that feed the good bacteria in your large intestine).

This Summer Jicama Salad is an adaption of a recipe that Debbie’s cousins, Sarah & Sasha, made for us a few years ago.  It is truly one of my favorites and I will admit to several attempts at making it in the winter because I wanted it so badly. However, summer offers the perfect opportunity—when the jicama is juicy, the mangoes are most sweet, and almost every avocado you cut into is perfection!

Summer Jicama Salad with Mango, Avocado & Cilantro
by Roy Steinbock

Ingredients:
1 medium jicama, julienned (approximately 5 cups)
1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1 medium avocado, mashed
½ cup lemon juice (from approximately 3 lemons)
1 tsp. sea salt
1-2 small mangoes, peeled and diced
1 medium avocado, diced

Method:

1. Peel the jicama (you must cut away the skin with a knife; you cannot peel with a vegetable peeler) and julienne it, either by hand or using a Mandoline slicer.
2. Place the julienned jicama in a large bowl and add the cilantro.
3. In a medium bowl, mash an avocado and then add the lemon juice and sea salt and stir to combine. Add this avocado-lemon mixture into the large bowl and mix to combine so that the flavors are well mingled.
4. Add the diced mango and diced avocado and serve.