Jicama & Roasted Corn Salsa

Mexico? Yes please. The sun, the beach, the food, the culture.... Mexico is one of our favorite places to visit and vacation. Last spring we took an impromptu trip to Cancun and stayed at the gorgeous all-inclusive resort, Beloved Playa Mujeres. This adults-only resort is beautiful with four amazing restaurants which we bounced between all day long. One of our favorites, El Mar was located on the beach and served up fresh seafood and fruits and veggies from sun up to sun down.

El Mar's lunch menu featured a jicama salsa that is the inspiration for this recipe. I had forgotten about the gem which is jicama and this El Mar salsa reawakened my love for it. While the restaurant's salsa was more of a traditional pico de gallo with tomatoes and jalapeños, I started to experiment with adding jicama to a variety of dishes and this salsa was born.

What is Jicama?

Maybe you have no clue what jicama is or even how to pronounce it. It's okay fellow gringa or gringo, I got you! First off, this veggie's name is pronounced "Hick-a-ma". I know, confusing....the "J" sounds like an "H".

Jicama originates from Mexico and thrives in the country's warm climate. Jicama is the root of a particular bean plant and is covered in a tough brown skin similar to a potato. You'll want to remove this skin before you eat it! The inside white flesh of the jicama is what you'll add to dishes and eat.

Jicama is super hydrating and made up of almost 90% water. Therefore it's very low in calories but high in nutritional value including vitamin C, magnesium, fiber, and potassium. So eat up!

Jicama has a crisp but juicy texture with just a hint of sweetness. It mild flavor helps it absorb stronger flavors and spices well, making it a great addition to lots of dishes including salsa.

Let's Make Some Salsa

You'll want to either cut off the tough brown skin of your jicama root or buy the pre-sliced jicama at Trader Joes. I love the pre-sliced Trader Joe's jicama and went the easy route. Dice the jicama into small ½ inch cubes and add to a medium sized bowl. You'll want about 1.5 cups of diced jicama.

Measure out 1 cup of frozen roasted corn (again Trader Joe's!) or frozen sweet corn will work in a pinch. If you're fancy, roast your own corn on the grill! You can zap the frozen corn in the microwave to slightly defrost it, but it thaws really quick. Add the corn to the jicama.

Chop 3 tablespoons of cilantro and add to the mixture. Finely chop ½ cup of onion (I prefer red) and add to mixture. Squeeze the juice of ½ a lime into the mixture. You can add more depending upon taste and how juicy your lime is. A dry lime is no bueno.

Add ¼ teaspoon of smoked paprika (chili powder is also tasty as a substitute) and salt to taste. Mix up all the bowl contents and now you're ready to eat. I love adding crumbled cotija cheese to the salsa. Delicioso!

This jicama roasted corn salsa is divine on it's own with corn chips or as a topping to fish tacos. We've added it to ground turkey nachos and as a topping to a bed of greens. I've added in black beans and used it as a vegetarian taco filling. And don't forget the cotija cheese...you'll thank me.

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