Ingredients

• 1 jicama, about 1 pound
• 3 small oranges or tangerines
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

Method

1. Peel the jicama and cut it into small cubes, 1/4 inch or so, or into julienne strips.
2. Squeeze the juice from one of the oranges, pour it over the jicama, add salt and lime juice, and let it sit while you prepare the other oranges. The jicama may marinate for several hours if you wish.
3. Peel the remaining oranges and cut into small pieces, removing any pits and tought fibrous material. Add oranges and basil to jicama, toss, taste and correct seasoning and serve.

From p. 101 of Mark Bittman's "How to cook everything."

So I made this for the first time and skipped both the salt and lime juice. I let the jicama soak in the juice of two oranges for six hours. I doubt the jicama picked up any flavor.

But it was great. I served it as a partner to chicken Tinga. Great combo. I'm really not all that fond of jicama, although my mother likes it. This I will make again, though.

Ingredients

• one quarter head of cabbage, shredded fine
• juice of two small lemons
• salsa brava

Method

Mix cabbage with lemon juice till all the cabbage is covered. Mix with enough salsa brava to cover all the cabbage. Makes two servings.

I liked this.

I want to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet. This idea crossed my mind.

• ¼ head of green cabbage
• 1 large Granny Smith apple
• juice of 1 large lemon (3 tbsp)

Shred the apple in a food processor. Add the lemon juice so it soaks the apple parts so they won't turn brown. Shred the cabbage in the food processor. Remove everything to a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Result? I really like this stuff.

If I were to make this for my niece and nephew, I might add a tablespoon of honey.

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa (cooked red quinoa is especially visually attractive)
• 2 cups water
• 1 -2 medium tomato, cut into cubes
• 1 medium onion or 6 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 small green pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (opti)
• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh mint, Finely Chopped or 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. Put the quinoa in a wire strainer and thoroughly rinse with hot water to remove any bitter flavor.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the water and quinoa to a boil over high heat.
3. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes. (Mom tells me it may take longer. Probably depends on your definition of “simmer.”)
4. Let cool completely.
5. Stir the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, parsley and mint into the quinoa.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, oil, garlic and salt.
7. Pour over the quinoa and toss well.
8. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Carol's recipe (Dick's wife). This is a lot like tabouli. Y'know, you could do this with a lot of other grains.

It turned out okay. I used the dried mint. Forgot the garlic. Still turned out okay. I'm not a parsley fan, so I'd probably reduce it next time.

Second attempt turned out great. Reduced parsley to 1 cup chopped. Used fresh mint. Flavored the water with 2 tsp of Whole Foods' vegetarian chicken broth.