Jicama

Editor's Note: This recipe was originally part of a menu by Bobby Flay for a backyard barbecue. For the complete menu and Flay's tips on throwing a party, click here. I'm always on the lookout for food that can satisfy my need for CRUNCH! Jicama (pronounced HEE-kah-mah), a root vegetable, was one of my favorite discoveries on my first trip to the American Southwest; it arrived there via Mexico. Now you can buy it in many supermarkets across the country; a jicama is about the size of a grapefruit and has a thin brown skin. Crisp as a Granny Smith apple, freshly cut jicama makes perfect slaw.

Editor's note:
This recipe is adapted from chef Joseph Poon. He also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Poon and Cantonese cuisine, click here. Chop suey is an Americanized Cantonese dish that dates back to the late 1800s, when it was served in Western mining camps and in San Francisco's Chinatown. The usual components are bean sprouts, sliced celery, onions, meat, and water chestnuts, all stir-fried with soy sauce. Chef Poon updates and lightens the dish by using a sophisticated array of vegetables and tofu instead of meat, and blanching the ingredients instead of frying.

Tortillas aren't the only depository for beans, corn and tomatoes. Let romaine lettuce do the job. Feta cheese supplies a dose of calcium and major flavor. And the honey-lime dressing adds just the right touch of tangy sweetness. Buen provecho!

This slightly unusual side dish takes the place of your standard green beans, lending a light and crunchy contrast to the heavier, puréed dishes in this menu. (Most people don't think of cooking jicama, but we love its crisp water-chestnut-like texture, raw or sautéed.)

Chojín Alma Guillermoprieto of Cambridge, Massachusetts, writes: "My guatemalan grandmother made a salad she called chojín. I remember the taste vividly, but when I went to Guatemala, no one knew the dish. This is my attempt to re-create it." While the ingredients in this recipe are extremely simple, the result is an eye-opening explosion of flavors.

This dish — meant to be eaten with your fingers or with wooden picks — is a light, refreshing hors d'oeuvre to complement tequila. The recipe is a take on the jicama and cucumber spears that are a popular Mexican street snack.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Great on its own or served alongside grilled fish, chicken or steak.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This unusual salsa calls for canned or bottled nopalitos, the stems of the prickly pear cactus. Available in the Mexican section of many supermarkets, they're sometimes labeled natural tender cactus. If you cannot find nopalitos at your local market, simply substitute cooked green beans. Use this tasty salsa as you would any other--with meats, chips and tacos.

Many Americans first tasted this cold vegetable soup at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Gazpacho came into favor partly as a vehicle for showing off blenders, the popularity of which created a boom in recipes that called for liquefying ingredients. This recipe goes the Spanish classic one better with the addition of smoky chipotle chilies.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional sitting time.

If you can't find jícama-a sweet, crunchy root vegetable eaten raw-use English-cucumber rounds or put the crab mixture in a bowl and serve it with tortilla chips. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.