Jicama... A great low calorie snack! Substitute for tortilla chips with guacamole!

 

Jicama…. A great low calorie snack! Substitute for tortilla chips with guacamole!

by rchbird12 on March 14, 2013
Jicama is a low calorie root veggie that originates from Mexico that is about 90% water. It contains dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, and some minerals and vitamins.
It is know to have a great source of oligofructose inulin, which is a zero calorie sweet inert carb that does not metabolize in the human body, which makes the root an ideal sweet snack for diabetics and dieters! This is definitely great in my home with diabetic risk on both sides of the family.
They also provide about 34% of DRA of vitamin C per 100 g, which is a powerful water-soluble anti-oxidant that helps body scavenge harmful free radicals, thereby offers protection from cancers, inflammation and viral cough and cold. It also contains small levels of some of valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid and thiamin. Lastly, it contains some important minerals like magnesium, copper, iron and manganese.
So my kids have tried Jicama in fruit salads and some will eat it plain. Recently, my family has been really trying to make a concerted effort to eat better. I have been trying to find more creative ways to eat a lot more vegetables, but often draw blanks in the grocery store and buy the regular broccoli and carrots. This last weekend I bought some Jicama to try to change things up a bit. As I was making some guacamole, I had the great idea of dipping a sliced piece of jicama in my freshly made guac. Well, lets just say the guacamole was gone pretty fast. Usually I will stop because I feel guilty about eating half a bag of chips with my guac… Well with the jicama, the guilt went right out the door and there was no guacamole left for my husband. Anyway, if you try it let me know what you think…



Guacamole Recipe: 2 avocados, 1 small tomato, 1/4 of a small onion, 1 clove of garlic, a few sprigs of cilantro, a squeeze of lime.

Mash avocados, chop tomato, finely dice onion, garlic, and cilantro, squeeze in some lime, mix all together.

Refrigerate so the flavors can marry for as long as you can handle it. You can always enjoy it right away, but I find that at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours for the best flavors.

Also I always place a plastic sandwich bag right on top of the guacamole and try to push out any air bubbles, so that it doesn’t turn brown.

With the Jicama, slice it about 1/2 centimeter thick, then cut into triangles, and dip and eat!