Finishing up the leftover jicama with a light salad...

Remember last Monday how we talked about not using jicama nearly often enough? Well, in the recipe we talked about that day, we used a measly half cup and as the jicama we bought was quite large, I needed to figure out what to do with the rest. While we did snack on it, I used the last of it to prepare this Jicama Salad with Chili-Spiced Chicken for our dinner this evening.

This is not your typical "salad", per se, as there are no greens used. Taking the place of tender greens is a combination of sliced jicama and white corn tortillas that had been cut into strips, given a light coating of olive oil spray and baked in the oven to give the dish a fantastic crunch. Bright lime juice, olive oil and a drizzle of sweet honey form the generous dressing to drench the salad base - since there is a lot of moisture here, be sure to wait to toss this together until right before you are ready to serve. This way so those tortillas strips keep their crispy power and don't get too soggy.

Adorning the gleaming salad are sliced chicken breasts that were seasoned with chili powder, smoky cumin and a little cayenne for heat. You can grill these or if you want to fire up the stove, toss them into a skillet with a little oil to cook them off. I actually did this part a few hours a head of time and then kept them chilled in the refrigerator. I tested for seasoning when they were still warm and noticed that I preferred the flavor/texture of the chicken better, with this salad anyway, when the chicken was cold.

We've had a couple heavier-type dishes the past couple of nights, so this cool, refreshing dish that didn't need to heat up the house, was our saving grace as the humidity has been a little wacky here the past couple of days! Jeff commented, and I agree, that the Cocoa-Chili-Rubbed Chicken we made a few months ago would also be a fun match to top off this crisp salad.

Recipes
Jicama Salad with Chili-Spiced Chicken