Harmony Valley Farm: October 5, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Jicama

We are kicking off October with a very busy harvest schedule! We’re facing our first frost pretty soon, so one of our priority harvests this week was to get all of the Jicama dug! We were pleased with the results of this year’s harvest and we’re excited to share this unique vegetable with you this week. Jicama is a simple vegetable, so it’s best to enjoy it in a simple preparation. This week’s featured recipe is for Jicama & Orange Salad with Citrus-Cumin Vinaigrette (See below). I also included links to several other recipes that utilize jicama along with some of the other vegetables in this week’s box. I’m looking forward to trying this Jicama & Apple Spinach Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing. I also want to try this Pineapple Jicama Salsa.

Pineapple Jicama Salsa
Photo from itsavegworldafterall.com

We are nearly finished with tomatoes and peppers for the season, so savor the final few meals where we can enjoy them in their fresh state. This Spinach Salad with Tomatoes, Mozzarella & Pepperoni has Richard’s name all over it! In addition to fresh salads, I also included several tasty main entrees such as Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta and Curried Lentil, Tomato & Coconut Soup.

The last thing I want to mention are these unique carrot recipes. I don’t often think to put carrots in beverages, but I want to try this Tropical Creamsicle Smoothie and this Carrot Ginger Soda looks fun!

We’re hoping to start harvesting sweet potatoes within the next week. Wish us luck and know that they’ll likely be in your box before the end of October! We’re also going to take a sneak peak at this year’s baby ginger crop. If it’s big enough, we may harvest within the next few weeks as we need to change the plastic on the greenhouse we use to grow the ginger. Never a dull moment during fall harvest season!

Have a great week—Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Jicama

by Andrea Yoder

Jicama in the field

Jicama is the odd-shaped vegetable with brown skin occupying one corner of this week’s CSA box. It is also known as yam bean, Mexican yam or Mexican turnip and is native to Mexico. The name of this vegetable is pronounced HICK-uh-mah or HEE-kuh-mah. It is a tropical plant that resembles a bean plant with bean-like vines and seed pods. The jicama grows underground and is a tuber that can produce multiple tubers off the one main stem. On the outside jicama is not the most attractive or flashy vegetable. Peel away the brown, leathery skin and you’ll find a solid white flesh inside that is mild in flavor, crunchy with a slight sweetness and slightly starchy.

You can eat jicama both raw and cooked. One of the most basic ways to eat jicama, and a common street food, is to slice it into sticks and give it a squeeze of lime juice and a light sprinkling of chili powder and salt. Jicama also pairs well with fruit including citrus (oranges, grapefruit, limes), pineapple, mango, and apples. It is common to see jicama slaws, salads and salsas that also include fruit. It also pairs well with avocado, hot, and sweet peppers, cilantro, tomatoes, seafood, onions, and garlic to name just a few complementary ingredients. In Asian cuisine you may find jicama used in stir-fry type preparations. When stir-fried, jicama should be added towards the end of cooking to retain the crisp texture. If you let it get just slightly soft, it has almost a potato-like flavor and texture.

2023 Jicama Harvest!

We don’t grow jicama every year, but it has a permanent spot on our list of unique vegetables we grow from time to time. We grow jicama in the field on beds covered with green plastic mulch. We use a growing method similar to what we do for sweet potatoes, given they are both tropical plants. About a week before harvest, we cut all of the vines off the plants in an effort to “cure” them. The objective of this process is to set the skins, so they are less susceptible to injury when harvesting as well as to enhance the shelf life. While jicama does have the ability to be stored for a while, we recommend you enjoy it within a week or so for optimal quality. Jicama is very sensitive to chill injury, so it is best to store it on your kitchen counter until you are ready to use it. If you store it in the refrigerator, you’ll notice the quality will deteriorate quite quickly. Once you cut into it, store any cut jicama in the refrigerator and eat it within a few days. We hope you enjoy trying something different this week!

Jicama and Orange Salad with Citrus-Cumin Vinaigrette

Yield: 4 servings

Photo from www.marthastewart.com

Citrus-Cumin Vinaigrette:

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp honey

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

Salad:

2 oranges

1 ½ pounds jicama, peeled and julienned

3-4 ounces baby spinach

First prepare the vinaigrette. Toast cumin seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Transfer to a spice grinder, and process until finely ground. (Alternatively, substitute with 1 tsp pre-ground cumin)
Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in the jar of a blender, blend until smooth. Set it aside until you are ready to dress the salad. If you have any extra vinaigrette, store in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Using a sharp knife, cut both ends off the oranges, and remove the peel and pith. Slice the peeled fruit crosswise into ¼-inch rounds and remove any seeds. Transfer slices to a large bowl and combine with jicama and spinach. Toss with the vinaigrette and serve immediately.

Recipe borrowed from Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes 2003.

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

October 5, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Jicama

Cooking With This Week's Box

Vegetable Feature: Jicama

Jicama and Orange Salad with Citrus-Cumin Vinaigrette

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