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Roasted Tomato, Black Bean and Arugula Salad Recipe

January 15, 2013

There is something about this time of year that makes me want to simplify my meals. But unlike many people who are ready to move on to green salads, I still want comfort food. It doesn’t have to be unhealthy comfort food. I just want a little something that is warm and filling. It’s the perfect opportunity to make a black bean salad.

I picked up some beautiful grape tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market this past weekend, but given my comfort food craving, I didn’t want them cold. Roasting them seemed like the perfect solution. And when I combined them with some slightly wilted arugula and the black beans, the tomatoes got even better.

This is a super simple salad that makes an easy appetizer, side dish or even a filling main course!

Roasted Tomato, Black Bean and Arugula Salad Recipe

Makes: 4 servings

What you’ll need:

2 cups grape tomatoes
Olive oil
¾ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 ½ cups arugula
2 cups black beans, warmed

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the grape tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Spray or drizzle lightly with olive oil. Use just enough to lightly coat each tomato. Sprinkle the basil, oregano, red pepper, salt and pepper over the tomatoes.

Roast until the tomatoes begin to burst, about 10 minutes. (You can also use your broiler for a similar result.) Remove from the oven and immediately lay the arugula over the tomatoes to wilt it slightly. Add the black beans to a medium-sized bowl, stir in the tomatoes and arugula. Add more salt or pepper to taste, if desired. Serve warm. Makes 4 servings.

A simple salad recipe with Roasted Tomato, Black Bean and Arugula

Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Lori Rice and Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes and images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.

Roasted Garlic, Tomato and Black Bean Soup Recipe

November 7, 2012

In this soup recipe, plain tomato is made more flavorful with roasted garlic, and more filling with hearty black beans.

Roasted Garlic, Tomato and Black Bean Soup Recipe | Fake Food Free

Keeping an eye on healthy eating usually leads to one thing in my kitchen – soup.

I have loads of frozen tomatoes waiting to be used, but chili wasn’t sounding right. I needed something more exciting than the basic tomato soup, too.

I’ve come to realize that a head of creamy, sweet roasted garlic makes just about everything better. This soup is no exception. Along with the garlic, I added some black beans for texture and protein.

This soup is sweet, rich and hearty all at the same time. I used about a gallon bag full of mixed frozen tomatoes from the garden. Skin on, whole tomatoes. It all gets blended by the immersion blender so leaving everything intact isn’t a problem for me. You can use whatever you have on hand – frozen, fresh, canned, whole, puree – it will all ultimately result in a tasty soup!

Roasted Garlic, Tomato and Black Bean Soup Recipe

2018-04-03 13:04:45

Serves 4

Plain tomato soup is made more flavorful with roasted garlic, and more filling with hearty black beans!

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Ingredients

1 head garlic
2 teaspoon olive oil
8 cups frozen whole tomatoes, thawed
2 tablespoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mascavo or raw sugar
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
Shredded parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Tear off about a 4-x-4-inch square of aluminum foil. Cut off the top third of the full head of garlic removing just enough so that all the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic in the center of the foil, cut-side up. Drizzle with the olive oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, until soft. Remove from the the oven and allow to cool.
While the garlic is roasted, begin to prepare the soup. Pour any excess water off of the thawed tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a large soup pot and heat to medium-high. Allow the tomatoes to cook down, crushing them with a spoon or potato masher as they cook, for about 15 minutes. Remove and discard any foam that rises to the top.
Stir in the basil, red pepper, salt, and sugar. Unwrap the garlic and squeeze all of the roasted cloves into a dish. Be sure to separate out any skin and leave only the soft flesh. Add the garlic to the soup. Remove from the heat.
Use an immersion blender to blend the soup and puree the tomatoes. You can also transfer it in batches to a blender to do this. Once everything is smooth simmer the soup over medium heat for 5 more minutes and let the soup thicken.
Finally stir in the black beans and heat through. Serve sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes or images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.

Homemade Garden Chili Slow Cooker Recipe

September 19, 2012

Chili is one of those foods that I get burned out on by December, but every time the next September rolls around, I’m ready for it all over again. My cravings for it this year started this past week, and they are just about spot on, considering we are moving towards the end of the month.

As you can probably tell from my posts, it has been a great garden year. We are still bringing in more tomatoes than I know what to do with, and I have plenty of frozen veggies from harvests earlier in the summer. With the weather turning cooler here, chili seemed like the ideal way to use them up.

My goal was to use a lot of fresh tomatoes, so this recipe does take some prep work. For me, this is just the kind of thing I enjoy doing on a quiet Sunday. Once it’s all in the slow cooker, it’s low maintenance from there on out.

Feel free to substitute different kinds of vegetables. I’ve been shredding and freezing zucchini all summer, and we also had some sweet corn tucked away in the freezer. Both ended up being a great addition to this chili.

Homemade Garden Chili Slow Cooker Recipe

6 – 8 lbs of tomatoes (you’ll need about 6 cups of sauce)

5 cloves garlic

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups black beans, soaked overnight

2 cups shredded zucchini, thawed if frozen

1 cup sweet corn, thawed if frozen

1 cup water

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

2 scotch bonnet peppers (or your favorite hot pepper)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut de-stem and core tomatoes if necessary, and cut in half. (I used a mix of San Marzano, Beefsteak and heirlooms.) Arrange cut side down on a baking sheet with the garlic and drizzle with a little olive oil. In batches, roast for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Add the onion and black beans to your slow cooker. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and place the pulp and the garlic cloves in a blender. Blend in batches until a smooth sauce results. Pour the sauce into the slow cooker. Set to high.

Add the zucchini and corn. Add the water. Stir in the chili powders, cumin, salt and black pepper. Take the scotch bonnet peppers and de-stem them. Cut a small slit in the side of each. Place the whole pepper in the soup. Put on the lid and cook on high for about 4 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender.

Before serving, remove the two peppers and discard. Serve with your favorite toppings. Makes about 6 servings.

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe

September 16, 2012

This eggplant and black lentil soup recipe is one I came up with after a Kentucky Food Bloggers event at Whole Foods. I’ve used black lentils a lot more since then, but this recipe still remains a favorite for cool summer days and for transitioning into autumn. It’s thickened with eggplant puree and flavored with tahini and garam masala.

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe | Fake Food Free

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year since our Kentucky Food Blogger group got together. We attempted all spring and summer, but busy schedules wouldn’t allow us to find a date that would work for more than a couple people.

That changed this past Friday night with the help of Whole Foods Market in Lexington. We were invited out to attend a special edition of their Flights After 5 event. Flights After 5 is a Friday night get-together where 5 beer tastings are matched with 5 appetizers at stations throughout the store. Last Friday Kentucky beers were featured including two of my favorite breweries West Sixth and Lore Brewing.

Several area bloggers joined the staff at Whole Foods as they told us a bit about the work that they do, and about the mission of the store. I will admit that I’m not a 100% Whole Foods shopper, but I do appreciate the products I buy there – grains from the bulk bins, my puffed kamut, and Ataulfo mangos, when they are in season.

I really like that on their website you can find Unacceptable Ingredients for Food and their Meat Animal Welfare Standards. That makes shopping easy. Through my work in agriculture, I’ve come across many local meat producers and fruit and vegetable farmers who supply Whole Foods. The combination of local support and global projects makes me a fan. We also learned that they price match with surrounding competitors, which explains why I’ve always felt that many things at Whole Foods aren’t any more expensive than they are at other area supermarkets.

Along with a little education, good beer and snacks, and great company, we received every food bloggers favorite thing – a goodie bag! They kept our cooking in mind and filled it with several ingredients, perfect for putting together a few new recipes. I was happy to see black lentils in my bag. I’ve used their brand before, and I was excited to create something new with them.

Baba ganoush was one of the appetizer offerings that night so I had eggplant on my mind. Lucky me, we just happen to still have eggplant from the garden.

I had no idea what direction I would go with the soup, but the more I tasted it, the more I felt it needed some Indian influences, which ended up making it a lot like daal. (And I’m definitely not complaining.) Tahini and garam masala came to the rescue, and I added some crushed red pepper for heat. It turned out to be a great way to celebrate the start of comfort soup season!

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe

2015-07-09 08:44:21

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

6 small eggplants (you need about 1 cup roasted pulp)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons tahini
1 cup black lentils
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
If your eggplant is round, de-stem and cut each in half. Longer Japanese style can be roasted whole. Lightly coat the eggplants with 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil and spread in an even layer, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until pulp is very soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In a soup pot, heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high and add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium to medium-high until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups of the stock. (Reserve the remaining 2 cups to add later, if you want a thinner soup.) Simmer for about 3 minutes.
Scoop out the cooled eggplant pulp and transfer it to the soup pot. Use an immersion blender to blend the eggplant, onions and garlic with the stock until smooth.
Add the tahini, and bring the soup to a low boil. Stir in the lentils. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add the salt, garam masala, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Add more or less of each to taste. Simmer for another minute or two and serve.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

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Voting for the Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards ends September 17, 2012! Fake Food Free is a finalist! If you enjoy my blog, I’d truly appreciate your vote for Reader’s Choice. You can vote here, no sign in or registration required.

Disclosure: Some products in this recipe were given to me free of charge from Whole Foods Market. I was not required to post about them and received no compensation for doing so. Thoughts here are my own.

Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes and images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.

Tex Mex Poblano Eggplant Pizza Recipe

July 18, 2012

Whenever we have a garden, I always grow some variety of eggplant. Then once it’s ready for harvest, I wonder what to do with it! This is eggplant pizza recipe is one I came up with a few years ago and it remains a favorite.

Tex Mex Poblano Eggplant Pizza Recipe | Fake Food Free

Unlike some other veggies in the garden, we aren’t bombarded with eggplant, but we do have enough to cook up a few meals. The type we bought this year is a purple eggplant that is small and round, as opposed to the long Japanese-style we’ve had in years past. Their size reminds me of pepperoni when they are sliced so I guess that is why I thought to use them on pizza.

For this pizza, I used my favorite crust from Food Embrace, this time with whole wheat flour and corn meal. The spicy beans take the place of the sauce. I had white beans to use up, but pinto or black would work great too.

Once the pizza is out of the oven you can garnish it with all kinds of fresh colorful ingredients. I used romaine lettuce, purple cabbage and diced tomato.

Tex Mex Poblano Eggplant Pizza

2015-07-09 08:15:43

Makes: 3 to 4 servings

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Ingredients

3 Poblano peppers, halved and seeds removed
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ cup cooked black, white or pinto beans
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1, 14-inch pizza crust, rolled thin
3 small or mini eggplants, sliced
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Shredded ettuce, sliced purple cabbage and diced tomatoes for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet, cut side down. Add the onions and garlic cloves to the baking sheet. Drizzle with about a ½ tablespoon of olive oil, and rub over the vegetables. Roast the vegetables in the oven for about 20 minutes, and then set aside to cool.
Add the beans to the bowl of a food processor. Remove any burnt or separated skin from the peppers, and add the roasted peppers, onions and garlic to the beans. Add the salt, cumin, chipotle powder, crushed red pepper and remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Pulse on high until a smooth paste is formed.
Spread the bean paste over your pizza crust. Lay the eggplant slices in a single layer evenly over the beans. Sprinkle with the cheeses.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the edges of the crust begin to brown and the cheese is bubbly.
Top with shredded lettuce, cabbage and diced tomatoes before serving.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

Black Lentil Salad with Roasted Asparagus

March 30, 2012

This simple black lentil salad uses spring asparagus with sweet onions to create a delicious side dish for a seasonal meal.

Black Lentil Salad with Roasted Asparagus Recipe | Fake Food Free

So far we’ve been harvesting single servings of asparagus from the garden. My husband got the first serving, and I got the second. He’s a much bigger asparagus fan than me so I thought that was only fair.

It’s coming up slowly, but I’m not going to complain because it’s a bit early for asparagus anyway. I’ll take the slow arrival as a trade off for having it so early. It must have known how desperate I was to get the garden going this year. Despite the warm winter, I still felt like I’d been cooped up inside for way too long.

This week I did manage to collect enough asparagus to make a salad, and this got me thinking about some black lentils in the pantry. It goes without saying; we are still in clean out mode. It’s amazing how much you can stuff into a small pantry when you are as obsessed with grains and legumes as I am.

The tang of the balsamic vinegar in the dressing for this salad adds a good balance to the asparagus that has turned sweet from roasting. I rounded up all the asparagus I could, but if you have more, add it. It only makes this salad better.

Black Lentil Salad with Roasted Asparagus

2018-04-26 11:24:28

Serves 2-3 for a main, or 4 for a side

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Ingredients

¼ cup white onion, finely diced
1 cup dried black lentils
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
½ to 1 pound asparagus, roasted or grilled
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspon mascavo sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Place the onion in a bowl of ice water and allow it to sit while you prepare the rest of the salad. This will draw some heat out of the onions. If your onions are already sweet, you can skip this step.
In a medium sauce pan, add the lentils and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 20-25 minutes. You want the lentils to be slightly firm for a salad. Drain and rinse with cold water until cooled. Pour into a medium bowl.
Drain the onion. Add the chives and onion to the lentils. Chop the asparagus into ½ inch pieces and add to the lentils.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, and sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the lentils and toss to coat. Add more salt or pepper, if desired.

Notes

To roast the asparagus, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until dark green, but still crisp.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

Soon I’ll be looking for ideas to use up all our asparagus. What’s your favorite way to prepare it?

Hummus Sandwiches with Carrot and Cilantro

March 28, 2012

Hummus Sandwiches with Carrot and Cilantro Recipe | Fake Food Free

Blog posts aren’t always planned. They have been the opposite of planned more times than I can count. I may spend time plotting and planning a recipe only to end up with something that never sees the food blogging light of day.

Other times I have no intention of putting a meal on the blog only to finish and think – that’s kind of pretty, and darn tasty. In these cases you can find me sprinting through the living room with a plate in hand to the room where I take my photos. I usually mumble something to my husband like – it will be ready in just a minute – as he waits patiently for dinner.

This sandwich is a perfect example of that. It’s a super simple dinner that you can turn to on a busy night.

You can use any type of hummus you like. I added a link in the recipe for my almond butter hummus as one idea. The veggies are open for experimentation as well. I love this combo, but you might find a few more in your fridge that would dress it up nicely. Feel free to go crazy with the veggies. I have no doubt that it will only make it better.

Vegetarian sandwich recipe loaded with hummus and fresh vegetables. | Fake Food Free

Hummus Sandwich with Carrot and Cilantro

Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients

2 pieces baguette (about 4 inches each)

½ cup hummus with almond butter

1 large carrot, peeled and shredded

2 green onions, whites and greens sliced

3 white button mushrooms, diced

Small handful of fresh cilantro

Hot sauce (optional)

Prep

Slice open each piece of baguette, careful not to cut all the way through. You’ll be stuffing in a lot of ingredients so it’s better to leave one side intact.

Spread the bottom piece of each with half of the hummus and sprinkle with shredded carrot. Divide the onions, mushrooms and cilantro, and add to each sandwich. Drizzle with hot sauce, if desired. That’s it. They’re ready to eat.

Easy vegetarian sandwich recipe with hummus, fresh vegetables and cilantro. | Fake Food Free

Quick Butternut Squash Curry Over Lentils

January 19, 2012

I don’t intend to mislead when I use the term quick in a recipe. It’s become an all encompassing term for a recipe that isn’t entirely authentic. It’s says – warning, while tasty and similar in flavor, what you are about to make is not the real deal.

My kind of quick still requires that you peel and cube the butternut squash, but it is well worth the effort. It will also be on the table in about 30 minutes, if you error on the side of speedy with your peeling and chopping.

I’ve made this dish twice now, and the first version left a little to be desired; namely protein. So the second time around I added lentils. I thought I’d stir them in the curry and serve it over rice, but then I decided to chuck the rice all together and serve the curry over the lentils.

This quick dish works well with any kind of winter squash. It’s the perfect reason to pull them out of storage in the garage or basement, and put them to use.

Quick Butternut Squash Curry Over Lentils

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 ½ tsp curry powder

1 can coconut milk

¼ cup water, optional

2 Kaffir lime leaves

1 tsp salt, or to taste

3 cups cooked lentils

In a deep skillet, or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic. Cook about 3 minutes. Add the butternut squash and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Add the curry powder and stir to coat the vegetables.

Next, add the coconut milk. Add ¼ cup water if desired. (This makes just the right consistency for me, but you can add more or less.) Bring the milk just almost to a boil, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir in the Kaffir lime leaves. Simmer, partially covered, for about 10 minutes, or until the squash is tender.

Add salt to taste and discard the lime leaves. Spoon over lentils and serve. Makes about 4 servings.

If your still hungry for winter squash curry, check out Pumpkin and Shrimp Curry from A Nutritionist Eats.

Grilled Green Beans with Dill Feta Sauce

June 27, 2011

This past weekend I took a quick trip to Indiana to surprise my mom for her birthday. It was a huge success in two ways. First, she was surprised; second, I was able to take any and all extra garden goods back with me to my Kentucky kitchen.

Our garden seems to be pouting a bit about the fact that we got it in around 3 weeks later than normal. Peppers and squash are slowly immerging from ours, but my parent’s garden is already flourishing.

This has a lot to do with the greenest thumb that exists in the world. It happens to be attached to my Dad’s hand.

I’m amazed at how tall his pepper plants are, at the diameter of the squash plants and how the cucumbers and melon plants have multiplied since our last visit over Memorial Day.

We opted out of growing our own potatoes this year, so I was happy to take all they had to offer. Kale is still growing strong there so I loaded up on a bag, cleaned the remaining raspberries off the bushes and took all the blackberries that had ripened thus far. We topped that off with a yellow squash and green beans. There were also lots of gooseberries whose recipe destiny I’m still contemplating.

Yesterday evening my husband decided he would try out some pastured pork spare ribs we got on sale from the local meat market. We were interested in tossing on some BBQ and finishing them off on his ceramic grill.

That needed to be matched up with lots of vegetables, so I decided the first of the harvest I’d tackle would be the green beans. We both aren’t raving green bean fans so I needed to find a creative way to cook them. Simply steamed wasn’t going to cut it.

Since just about everything else from the meal was on the grill I thought, why not grill the green beans too. So I slicked them up in some olive oil and my husband tossed them into a grill pan where they stayed for about 7 to 10 minutes. I took them off the grill when they were still firm, but beginning to brown and blister (in a good way).

I wanted to match them up with something slightly cooling to balance the smoky flavor. This sauce made with feta, dill and Greek yogurt was perfect. Not only did it go well with the green beans, but I think it will become my standard veggie dip from here on out.

Grilled Green Beans with Dill Feta Sauce

½ pound green beans, cleaned
Olive oil
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tbsp fresh chives, sliced
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Lightly sprinkle the green beans with olive oil and stir to coat. Gently sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place the green beans in a grill pan and grill at about 325 degrees F for 7 to 10 minutes.

In a small food processor, combine the yogurt, feta, dill, chives and lemon juice. Pulse until a creamy sauce forms. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the green beans from the grill, place on a serving platter and top with the feta sauce. Serves 2 to 3.

Citrus Jicama Salad

June 17, 2011

Raise your hand if you’ve never had jicama.

No one? That’s what I thought.

I’m a little embarrassed to say that until this week, I had never had jicama. Embarrassed because while I’d read about it, recommended it as a new food to others, even saw it in the store, for some reason I never picked one up.

On a whim, about a week ago, I decided to buy one. Then, of course, it sat for several days while I was trying to figure out what to do with. I knew from every description I’d read that I would love it, but what to do, what to do.

If, like me, you’ve never had jicama which comes from the legume family, I’ll explain a bit about it. First of all, it is much more like a root vegetable than any legume or bean I’ve had. My research tells me it is native to Mexico and it has spread to Central America, China and Southeast Asia. It has a very high water content and I would equate the texture to a firm, crisp apple. The flavor is only slightly sweet, nothing like an apple to me and although it has a texture also like radishes, there is no spicy radish flavor either.

It seems to be best served as a slaw or salad, but I also read some recommendations to slice it and dip it in salsa. Apparently it can also be used as a substitute for water chestnuts. I did a little searching and combined some different components of several recipes I found, my favorite being from Simply Recipes.

I was right on to expect I would like jicama. I could have eaten an entire bowl of this stuff! I especially liked the sweet jicama with the juices combined with the savory garlic and spicy pepper. My husband thought it was a little too sweet so next time I’ll likely try a version with chili powder as was suggested by some readers via Facebook.

Citrus Jicama Salad
Adapted from Jicama Salad by Simply Recipes

Serves: 2 to 3

Ingredients

1 medium jicama, peeled and julienned or chopped
1 spring onion, sliced (white and greens)
1 sweet pepper sliced (I used banana)
2 tsp hot pepper, finely diced (I used mariachi)
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 orange, peeled, sliced
Juice of one orange
Juice of ½ lime
1 clove garlic, grated
Salt to taste

Prep

Place the jicama, onion, peppers and cilantro in a medium bowl and stir to mix ingredients.

In a small bowl, mix together the orange juice, lime juice and garlic. Pour the dressing over the vegetables. Toss to coat. Add salt to taste if desired. Refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes before serving.