Jicama and Cabbage salad

For the past few days it's been too hot to do anything - cook, eat, blog. It's so muggy my fingers sweat on the keyboard. In the early morning coolness there is insentive to move.

Many vegetables have passed through my kitchen in the past few days. Independance day has passed as well. My last farm basket was full of greens and cabbage. It had a beatiful red cabbage and a huge napa cabbage. Cole slaw, of course, was what I brought to the Fourth of July Pot Luck. This one was very colorful and crunchy. I used a combination of the red cabbage and the nappa cabbage plus the addition on slivered red pepper, slivered almonds and a granny smith apple. The dressing was my basic coleslaw dressing of mayonaise, milk, sugar and- lacking vinegar I used - lemon juice.



Two days ago the temperatures hovered near 100 degrees. There was no way I was making more heat in the kitchen. Just chopping veggies made the sweat trickle down my back. Dinner that night was cold. A Jicama and Red Cabbage Salad and a green salad with blue cheese. Gluten free man added some tortilla chips and my daughter and I added some whole grain pita.

The jicama and cabbage salad came out nicely. A combination of sweet, salty and crunchy. I made a few adjustments to the recipe due to lack of and ingredient (jalepeno pepper) and preference (one daughter can not stand cilantro and we are not big on mint)



Jicama is a South American root vegetable, looks like a potato. It is a good source of fiber - 6 grams for 3 ounces- and vitamin C. The sweetness comes from oligofructose inulin, which is a prebiotic. The rest of the jicama plant is apparently poisonous. The skin needs to be peeled and it can be eaten raw or lightly cooked.



Jicama and Red Cabbage Salad

Adapted from a recipe by Rebecca Katz



The salad part is - 6 cups chopped red cabbage - I used a combo of red and napa cabbage.

2 cups julienned jicama, 1/4 cup combination of chopped basil and parsley.



The Dressing - 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce or tamari, 3 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.



Spiced Almonds (do not skip this- yum) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1/2 cup slivered almonds, 1 tsp maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Spread on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden and fragrant.



Mix the three parts and enjoy.