Instructions

1. Select firm jicamas with unblemished skin. They should be free of bruises, and the roots should be dry and mold free. A well-chosen jicama will last two weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

2. Remove the brown skin from the jicama before you eat it, whether eating it raw or cooking it. While the skin in not consumable, the rest of the white flesh is delicious to eat.

3. Substitute the jicama for water chestnuts in recipes. When cooked, the vegetable takes on the flavor of other foods while providing a nice texture compliment and is less expensive than water chestnuts. It's a good addition to stir-fry dishes.

4. Add raw jicama to fruit salads for an interesting flavor. Although it's a vegetable, the flavor is similar to that of a pear or apple. Juicy and firm, the jicama does not brown when exposed to the air like traditional fruit. It also meshes well with seafood salads or slaws.

5. Use jicama in its raw form in vegetable platters. Because it doesn't brown, it's visually appealing and the juicy, fruity flavor is a nice contrast when your usual vegetables.

6. Marinate the raw jicama in bitter orange and top with chili powder. In Latin countries where the vegetable originates, this is the traditional way to serve and eat jicama.