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I’m Back with a Tangerine and Jicama Salad Recipe!

December 19, 2007 by Nicole 73 Comments

Peeling a Tangerine

Sorry for the unannounced disappearance!

The move back to the states, living out of a small bedroom with two animals, and being without a steady means of transportation has made it difficult for me to concentrate on blogging! On top of that, all of my spare time lately has been spent house hunting and Christmas shopping.

Luckily, we did find a nice house, but for now it’s empty since our furniture is still on its way back from Sicily! But Smack and Thumbelina have moved into the new place and Justin has been sleeping there on an inflatable mattress so that his commute to work is shorter. The animals are happy to have the run of the house after being mostly confined to one room for the last month! I’ve been borrowing a car when I can and splitting my time between my sister’s place and the new house. Hopefully the furniture and my car will arrive sometime in January.

Tomorrow, I am heading back up to central California to spend Christmas and New Year’s with the rest of my family. I will have my sourdough starter in tow and plan on making a sourdough swap with some Bay Area relatives! If everything goes well, I’ll be returning with a new (to me) starter that has been in my cousin’s family for decades (maybe centuries)! I’ll know more about the history of it soon.

Phew! Now you’re all caught up.

So, what have I been doing, foodwise, in San Diego? Eating out a lot, unfortunately! Don’t get me wrong, I do like to eat out occasionally. But now that my body is used to eating good, home cooked meals, it doesn’t like it when I eat out too much! Not only have I been packing on the pounds (something that happens every time I come back to the states), but I haven’t been feeling that great either. But I have to admit that despite my increasing waistline and that not-so-healthy feeling, I’ve been enjoying eating out at some good Mexican, Greek, Chinese, and American restaurants!

One healthy thing I have been eating a lot of lately is the wonderful tangerines off the tree in my sister’s backyard. The oranges aren’t quite ripe yet but the tangerine tree is loaded with super sweet, perfectly ripe, seedless tangerines! Mostly we peel and eat them right off the tree but we’ve also been enjoying them in salads and even muffins!

My favorite salad so far was made of tangerines and jicama with garlic, olive oil, cilantro and crushed red pepper. This was actually one of the first things I created after arriving in San Diego and it was made with a bag of tangerines I found sitting on the kitchen counter one day (this was before I realized that my sister’s tangerines were ripe). I wasn’t sure who the fruit belonged to, but I figured that they were free for the taking since they had been left on the counter! I later found out that they were a gift from my brother-in-law’s aunt. Thanks, Aunt Monica!

The salad is a simple creation but peeling and sectioning the tangerines might seem intimidating if you’ve never done it before. Although some might think that tangerines don’t yield enough fruit to make this method worth the effort, I disagree! It really didn’t take much time at all and I enjoyed this salad even more than the orange salads I usually make! Here are some step-by-step photos to show you the process:

1. Cut off the top and bottom of the tangerine.

Cut ends off Tangerine

2. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut off the peel in sections, being sure to remove all of the white pith as you go.

Peeling a Tangerine

3. Continue until the tangerine has been peeled completely.

Peeled tangerine

4. Holding the tangerine in one hand and a paring knife in the other, carefully remove each section by cutting just inside the white membrane on either side.

Sectioning the Tangerine

5. Don’t throw away any of the peels or empty membranes, you’ll be salvaging the leftover juice from these later!

Leftovers

5. You should end up with perfectly smooth, bite-size, membrane-free tangerine pieces. I peeled and sectioned 4 or 5 tangerines to get this amount (enough for my lunch!):

Tangerine pieces

Next comes the jicama! If you aren’t familiar with this slightly sweet, crunchy root, Wikipedia offers a good explanation. It might not be the prettiest thing to look at, but jicama is wonderful in salads!

Jicama

I usually shred it, but this time I decided to try it cubed.

Cubed jicama

I wanted to have equal parts tangerine and jicama but I just eyeballed the amount instead of actually measuring.

Tangerine and Jicama

Next, I chopped up a handful of cilantro leaves to sprinkle over the top.

Cilantro

Tangerines, Jicama and Cilantro

Now for the dressing. Hopefully you listened to me and saved that pile of tangerine peels and mebranes! You want to squeeze every last bit of juice from that mess! You can even pour off the juice that has collected on the cutting board and whatever has collected in the bowl or plate of tangerine sections. You should be able to salvage about a tablespoon of juice per peeled tangerine. Exact amounts aren’t important, just collect as much juice as you can and put it in a bowl. This is about a quarter cup of juice:

Tangerine juice

Next, pour in an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil:

Tangerine Juice and Olive Oil

Then add one a clove or two of fresh chopped garlic (I used one clove for 1/4 C. juice and 1/4 C. olive oil):

Tangerine Salad Dressing

Finally, whisk it all together! If you don’t have a cute little whisk like this one, don’t worry! A fork will do just fine.

Whisking Dressing

To finish your salad, sprinkle the plate of tangerines and jicama with fresh ground black pepper, sea salt and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper (if you like it spicy, add lots of crushed red pepper, it’s great that way). Pour a few spoonfuls of dressing over the salad and reserve the rest for another use.

Tangerine Jicama Salad

Now it’s time to eat!

Tangerine Jicama Salad with Fork

Tangerine and Jicama Salad with Garlic and Cilantro

4 or 5 tangerines, peeled and sectioned
equal amount of cubed jicama (eyeball it)
handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
pinch of sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
pinch of crushed red pepper
dressing to taste (recipe follows)

Combine tangerine pieces and jicama in a bowl or on a plate. Sprinkle with cilantro, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Top with a few spoonfuls of Tangerine Garlic Dressing. Serves one or two.

Tangerine Garlic Dressing

1/4 C. fresh squeezed tangerine juice
1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced

Whisk together all ingredients.

Now I’m ready for some oranges! Although the oranges on my sister’s tree aren’t quite ripe, I know I’ll have access to plenty of fresh oranges once I get up to Madera tomorrow. My goal is to create a few new recipes using some of our wonderful California oranges when I get there. In the meantime, here are some orange recipes from last winter!

Blood Orange Salad Blood Orange and Green Olive Salad

Orange Cranberry SaladOrange Cranberry Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese

Orange Mini Cheesecake Mini Orange Cheesecakes with Grand Marnier Cream

And it turns out that someone did try making my Lemon Sugar Cookies with oranges instead of lemons like I had suggested after seeing that Patricia had tried them with Limes. Well, she actually used clementines but I think it’s close enough! Check out Allison’s Clementine Sugar Cookies at A Day Late and a Dollar Short.

One last thing! I want to send out a huge thank you to Ben Lew, the very talented designer who created the original Pinch My Salt theme for this blog. He is the one responsible for the new winter colors which showed up at the beginning of the month. If you only read my posts through a feed reader, stop by and check out the new look! If you are looking for a designer, Ben’s portfolio, resume, and contact info can be found at BenLew.com

Filed Under: Herbs and Spices, Sauces and Dressings, Side Dishes, Tips and Tricks, Vegetarian

Previous Post: « It’s Time for Giving
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. steamy kitchen says

    January 5, 2008 at 7:16 pm

    hey! i just re-discovered your site via danispies.com awesome recipe - and i'm making this baby for lunch tomorrow.
    Reply
  2. christy says

    January 6, 2008 at 7:29 pm

    Welcome back. And, Happy New Year! This recipe looks divine!
    Reply
  3. Nancy says

    January 9, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    Yum! You hit most of my favored flavor sensors with this one. And I must say that your photos are EXCELLENT! A feast for the eye as well as the palate.
    Reply
  4. one food guy says

    January 9, 2008 at 6:25 pm

    Jicama and tangerines go so well together. I love the egghead whisk by the way, very cool!
    Reply
  5. Karen says

    January 10, 2008 at 2:47 pm

    What a gorgeous post, full of winter in San Diego-style color and a creative recipe. Your blog is definitely an inspiration. Welcome home, and thanks!
    Reply
  6. Julie says

    January 11, 2008 at 10:15 am

    I love Jicama, I sometimes just cut it up into french fry size sticks and snack on it with a little lime and salt. Your salad looks light and delicious.
    Reply
  7. The Secret Ingredient says

    January 13, 2008 at 6:28 am

    Looks and sounds delicious. I just adore jicama. This is timely b/c I just had an entire conversation about jicama with the folks at Bigelow Tea (I develop recipes for them)----and I was talking about doing a jicama salad of some sort using their White Tea with Tangerine as part of a dressing. We're on the same wavelength! I was going to use watercress instead of cilantro----but I like the sound of your cilantro as well. YUM. PS: Pics are fantastic!
    Reply
  8. Angelique says

    January 13, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    Nicole- Just discovered your site today after following a link from Chow.com. After seeing this recipe, I rushed to the market to get some Jicama and made this salad for lunch. It was fantastic! I'm sure I'll be the envy of my coworkers tomorrow as I eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow! From one San Diego Navy Family to another- Welcome Home! I look forward to more of your wonderful entries.
    Reply
  9. Susan says

    January 15, 2008 at 6:39 am

    Happy New Year, Nicole. I hope you have found the perfect spot to land and get back to your faithful readers! I just returned from a week in San Miguel de Allende where I ate, twice, at a wonderful restaurant called Hecho en Mexico. On the menu? Jicama salad. I ordered it and it was splendid. Shredded jicama, chopped cilantro, olive oil-based vinagrette dressing using orange juice (could be tangerine juice!) instead of vinegar. Very delicious; crunchy, slightly sweet, very refreshing. It is jicama season here so we can get "young" fruit. I tried it at home (still in Mexico), adding a bit of shredded apple to combine with the sweet overtones of the dressing. It goes in my JICAMA SALAD recipe slot along with yours.
    Reply
  10. JoeDrinker says

    January 15, 2008 at 11:39 pm

    Glad you made it back and are slowly getting settled in. And a great looking recipe as always. Cheers, Joe
    Reply
  11. Lori says

    January 16, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    Welcome to San Diego!! I'm a fellow San Diego food blogger- you'll love it here. Sunny all the time! Nice blog... I'll check in often! Lori http://TheRecipeGirl.blogspot.com
    Reply
  12. Jamie says

    January 18, 2008 at 7:29 am

    This recipe sounds great. I am looking forward picking up a jicama at the grocery store. I think the jicama combined with the tangerine will bring some sunshine to my frigidly cold Iowa winter! Thanks for the post.
    Reply
  13. Janna says

    January 21, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    Nicole, The salad sounds fantastic! I actually have a blogging question that I'm hoping you'll take a moment to answer. I've also just moved from a wordpress-hosted to a self-hosted blog, and I'm wondering how you made the little circle Oops image on your old site? From the code that I can see it looks like a widget. Did you get it somewhere that's available to others, or is it just yours. Anyways, any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!!!
    Reply
  14. Jen S says

    January 23, 2008 at 8:59 pm

    Happy New Year! After doing my reading rounds of food blogs I came back to yours to see you are back in the States! In San Diego no less! I have lived here 5+ years and I know you'll love the new take on food we have to offer. I could go on and on but I have so many markets, restaurants, local farmers to mention. I'm sure you've researched as well.
    Reply
  15. Wanda says

    January 24, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    Great blog Nicole. Excellent photos and recipes. We have nominated Pinch My Salt as our 'Blog of the Week 'and here is the link if you would like to check it out http://www.only-cookware.com/blog/2008/01/24/pinch-my-salt-blog-of-the-week/. Love your recipes and look forward to coming back for more. Wanda www.only-cookware.com
    Reply
  16. Champagne & Meatloaf says

    January 25, 2008 at 10:09 pm

    Man-o-man does that look GOOD!
    Reply
  17. jancd says

    January 26, 2008 at 9:03 pm

    Just found you site--quickly added it to my bookmark! This tangerine salad sounds delicious. I, too, love cilantro. Why do people complain so loudly about their dislike of cilantro? Glad to meet you and look forward to trying your recipes and keeping up with your comings and goings! Jan
    Reply
  18. Taylor Baldwin says

    May 10, 2008 at 11:39 am

    I made this salad today. It was INCREDIBLE. I wonder if some bleu cheese would throw off the flavors too much...
    Reply
  19. Catherine says

    August 27, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    Nice dish. Looks delicious.
    Reply
  20. DVD Cleaner : says

    October 31, 2010 at 4:22 am

    american restaurants usually serve foods that are high in protein and also in saturated fats "
    Reply
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