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4.28.2011

how do you pronounce this?

this month we wanted to find something a little out there. well...i think we managed to do just that (at least i thought so). walking by this particular food we saw a sign that read "jicama" and immediately we had to start trying to pronounce it. after emily and i both realized we both knew it should be our next new food we try. come to find out it's also known as a Mexican turnip (a little useless fact for ya).

the inside of it is white almost like a potato. speaking of potatoes...the texture of this thing is a lot like a potato combined with a pear (at least when it's uncooked). i think i definitely want to try this again, but maybe cooked in something or for dipping in a hummus maybe?

want to know something cool about jicama? (why yes tony...we do of course) we eat the root like you see in the picture below, but the rest of the plant is actually very poisonous. seriously...who was the lucky one that figured that out?




jicama: 
-would i recommend it? yeah i think so. it'd probably work best cutting into wedges for dips or throwing it in a salad.
-easy to prepare? cut it up. we ate it raw, but you can cook it.
-availability? we found it at hyvee (we've seen them at wal-mart)
-health benefits? low in calories and an excellent source of fiber (six grams per cup!), potassium, iron, calcium, and vitamins C and E