Jicama Salad

Michael is the master vegetable chopper in our house and I don't think I've ever seen a more chop-intensive salad than this jicama salad.  There were at least six vegetables in this dish, all requiring a fine to medium dice chop.  Not only did he chop like a madman, but he peeled and hacked his way through a giant jicama root like a champ.  I wish I'd taken pictures of the peeling job he did, because it was intense.  The thing is twice the size of a big Idaho baking potato and the skin is thick, tough, and extremely difficult to remove.

Yes, there are oranges in this thing, too!  For the most part, we followed the recipe found on Simply Recipes, with a few flourishes of our own by adding a couple tablespoons of salsa verde, one tablespoon of olive oil, and maybe 4 oz.of happy crab.  I think one could use shrimp in this, too.

The only disappointing thing about this jicama salad was that neither of us really liked the jicama.  Texture-wise, jicama is somewhere between an apple and a raw potato.  The flavor is slightly sweet, but otherwise quite bland.  Truly sad when you consider all the effort Michael put into peeling that mother trucker.  Next time, we'll make it without the jicama.

Jicama salad with a side of refried cranberry beans and cheese.  Cranberry beans are yet another experimental ingredient this week.  They're meatier than pintos and pretty versatile.  We first had them with red onions, peppers, and an italian style chicken sausage.  Tonight, we threw them in with some olive oil, black pepper, and paprika for a nice side dish.