 There's more to life than quinoa. The produce aisles and vegetable stalls will be filling up this month with people eager to get their hands on the best foods the summer has to offer. This month, keep your eyes peeled for these two exciting new veggies. JICAMA Jicama is a root vegetable low in calories and packed with essential nutrients. Its origins lie in the Mexican peninsula. Jicama (pronounced hee-cama) is very similar in texture to a turnip with a taste closer to an apple. Jicama is crisp, white, and delicious. Just make sure you peel before eating! When scouting out jicama at the supermarket, look for firm, round tubers, and store them in a cool, dark place for up to four weeks, and in the refrigerator when cut. Wash them just like potatoes. Slice off the top and bottom to create a flat surface, and then remove the peel in facets with a sturdy paring knife. Chopped, cubed, sliced into fine sticks, raw or cooked, jicama is versatile and great in stir-fries, salads, slaw, soup, and with other veggies and fruits like oranges, apples, carrots, and onions, as well as meats and seafood. A favorite Mexican recipe is chilled jicama slices sprinkled with chili powder, salt, and lime juice. Try this great recipe! BROCCOLINI Although broccolini is sometimes called "baby broccoli," it is not really an immature version of regular broccoli, but rather a cross between broccoli and gai-lan, or Chinese broccoli. Instead of growing into large heads with thick stalks, broccolini grows in slender, individual stalks, each topped by a small floret. Broccolini tastes very similar to broccoli and can be prepared in the same way, but is usually a bit sweeter and the stalks are more tender, which means they cook faster. Nutritionally-speaking, broccolini is jam packed with essential vitamins and minerals. This tasty veggie is a great source of vitamins A, C, and K. As for all those other compounds that make broccoli so good for you, such as sulphoranes, indoles, and isothiocyanates, these are found in all cruciferous vegetables--including broccolini!  |
