RECIPE: Mango-Jicama "Slaw"

This is not a proper "slaw" at all.  There is no cabbage, no mayonnaise, and no sugar.  It is delicious, though, and as sweet and crunchy as you can hope for.

As per the norm, I did not have all of the ingredients recommended for any high-falutin' jicama recipe, but I had found several websites that recommended combining the jicama with mango.  With a little help with the chopping, I whipped together a simple and easy side dish for our lemon basil shrimp. 

Jicama, for the record, is an odd, odd sort of vegetable.  It smells like a potato when you chop it, but it tastes more like a pear on the tongue.  Its consistency is somewhere in between the potato and the pear, too, so perhaps the foodies are playing a prank on us and it's really a GM hybrid.  Kidding.

The jicama has been around a long time, really.  It is sometimes called the Mexican Turnip or the Yam, and like the potato it is an edible tuber.  The tuber is the only edible part of the plant--so don't let me catch you gnawing on the vine or I'll send you off to Katniss Everdeen for an edible plant test.  I used to read books where the characters chowed down on yams, but I never expected to eat one myself.

I'm glad I did. 

INGREDIENTS

1 mango, julienned
1 pound jicama, peeled and matchsticked
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup raspberry or red-wine vinaigrette 
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
Sea salt & pepper to taste

1 red bell pepper, seeded and julienned (optional)
1/2 cup carrots, matchsticked (optional)
1/8 cup fresh chopped mint (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine all of the ingredients, mix thoroughly, and refrigerate until serving.


Eating well is really that easy.  Sometimes.