Jicama Fries

Our family was introduced to Jicama (pronounced as hikema) today in a fun and creative way!  Fries!

As a side to our bison burger, we made raw jicama fries (without any frying, of course).

Jicama, similar to water chestnut in texture and closer to an apple in sweetness, is sometimes referred to as the "Mexican potato".  Most grocery stores of size carry jicama in a variety of sizes and reasonable prices. 

They don't taste anything  like a fried potato stick (french fries).  But, they did fool the kids in appearance (they thought they looked like cheese curls) and they did eat several of them -- and we're happy with that as it was a new food for us.  And feel free to dip them in ketchup (as our kids did) or eat as is (which we did).

There are countless ways to prepare jicama, but we used a recipe from the Boutenko book, "fresh:  The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook", page 91:

• 1 pound jicama sliced in french-fry shapes
• 2 Tbs quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs. onion powder
• 1 Tbs. paprika
• sea salt to taste

Simple!  Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix with tongs (or your fingers) and plate!

If you haven't already, introduce yourself to the nutricious jicama.

Choose a 1 pound jicama.

Cut both ends off to create a flat surface.

Use a good knife to peel the jicama.

Slice the peeled jicama into 1/4" slices.

Cut each slice into fry-like shapes.

Toss and coat "fries" with oive oil and seasoning.

Finished and ready to plate.