A refreshing salad with fresh lime juice, cilantro and ginger.
After posting the Green Chile recipe this week, I made green chile enchiladas for dinner and served this salad on the side. This recipe has been in my recipe book forever and is so old, it’s written in cursive on yellow notepad paper!
Jicama (pronounced heekama) is one of those vegetables that most people wonder what to do with it when they see it in the store. It’s a root vegetable similar to a turnip that is grown in Mexico and Central America. Jicama has a mild, lightly sweet and more nutty taste to it that reminds a lot of people of water chestnuts. In Mexico, cooks like to cut jicama into little strips and coat them with lime juice and chile powder. You might see it sold in street markets on sticks if you visit Mexico.
The secret ingredient in this salad recipe is fresh ginger, but you also must have cilantro, fresh lime juice and a jalapeño pepper—all fresh ingredients. My original notes say to serve it with seafood, which would be great as well. If you don’t want a spicy salad, you can replace the jalapeno with bell pepper.
Jicama Salad
Equipment
- 1 grater
- 1 sharp knife and cutting board
- 1 food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup jicama, grated on the large holes
- 2/3 cup carrots, grated on the large holes
- 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped
- 2 TBLS sliced green onions
- 1/2 teas. grated or finely minced fresh peeled ginger
- 2 teas. fresh jalapeno, minced fine
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teas. salt
Instructions
- Grate the carrot and jicama on the large holes of a grater, or use a food processor, put in a salad bowl.
- Chop the cilantro, green onions and jalapeno pepper, add to the bowl.
- Mince the garlic, ginger, squeeze the lime and and add the salt to the bowl OR you can put the garlic, ginger, salt and lime juice in the food processor or blender and mix it together. Pour it over the vegetables in the bowl.Chill before serving. Tastes best the day you make it.
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