February 13th...Getting out of our "cooking" comfort zones!

OK so were into week 4 and our goal for this week is to try an Ethnic food.  Head to your local grocery store and check out the aisle's and rows of produce dedicated to Ethnic products.  I want you to expand our horizons and get out of your "comfort zone" cooking and try something new!  I was at the store last week, checking out the Ethnic produce and taking pictures. Their was a couple there choosing an assortment of vegetables and they looked like they knew what they were doing, so I started to ask them questions.  Like, how it tasted and how they liked to prepare it.  They gave me a lot of great information so don't be afraid to talk to someone as people love to talk about food and they love to share their recipes!  So this is what I'm starting with, the JICAMA...I can pronounce it 4 different ways and none of them are right!  But first a brief history on this tasty treat...

 Jicama is a round, fleshy taproot vegetable of bean family plant. Its underground starchy root is one of the popular edible root vegetable grown in many parts of Central American, South Asian, Caribbean, and some Andean South American regions. Its refreshing, crispy, ice-white fruit-like pulp is eaten raw or cooked in a variety of sweet and savory dishes worldwide.  Jicama is a perennial vine plant growing vigorously under semitropical and tropical climates. It has similar growth characteristics as that of lima bean or any other bean species plant. The most distinguishing feature, however, is that it bears round, fleshy, turnip-like starchy edible root underneath the ground surface. Unlike other starch roots like potato, sweet potato wherein the peel may be eaten, jicama features thick dust-brown color inedible skin. Inside, its white starchy flesh has crisp texture and fruit like succulent, sweet-starchy taste. 

 Health benefits of the Jicama...

• Jicama is very low calorie root vegetable, itcontains only 35 calories per 100 g. However, its high quality phyto-nutrition profile comprises of dietary fiber, and anti-oxidants, in addition to small proportions of minerals, and vitamins.
• It is one of the finest source dietary fiber and excellent source of oligofructose inulin, a soluble dietary fiber. The root pulp provides 4.9 mg or 13% of fiber. Inulin is a zero calorie, sweet inert carbohydrate and does not metabolize in the human body, which make the root an ideal sweet snack for diabetics and dieters.
• As in turnips, fresh yam bean tubers are rich in vitamin C; provide about 20.2 mg or 34% of DRA of vitamin C per 100 g. Vitamin-C is a powerful water-soluble anti-oxidant that helps body scavenge harmful free radicals, thereby offers protection from cancers, inflammation and viral cough and cold.
• It also contains small levels of some of valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid and thiamin.
• Further, it provides healthy amounts of some important minerals like magnesium, copper, iron and manganese.

 I decided to just prepare the Jicama with a light citrus dressing and add both to my spinach salad.  I used the juice of one freshly squeezed orange, 1 tbsp chopped Cilantro, 1 tbsp Walnut Oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

The Jicama, taste so good on it's own you really don't need anything else.  And what I really like about it, is that you can pack it as a snack, you don't have to worry about keeping it cold and the kids actually like it!