Rutabaga & Jicama Fries!

Craving Fries?

Try making some out of Jicama or Rutabaga!!

I've been craving fries and salt lately so when someone said to make fries out of Jicama or Rutabaga plants I figured I'd give it a try!

The first ones I made were from the Jicama Plant. 

You can get them pre-cut at your local organic supermarket usually:

Jicama has a pretty sweet taste to them! I'd suggest trying a bite raw before to see what you think before diving in! To me they tasted like sweet potatoes when fully cooked!

In a large bowl transfer the chopped jicama and toss it with vegetable oil, salt, pepper powder, garlic powder, cayenne powder and basil leaves. OR whatever spices you like!!!! ( I also put mine in a ziploc bag and let soak for a bit in my seasonings)

Spread this into a single layer on a baking sheet.

Baking tips: most recipes online will say cook for 30 minutes at 400-450 but the first time I did that they burnt so now I do 400 and 15 minutes on one side & then flip and another 15 minutes until the desired texture!!

These are my go to and are in the selected vegetables category! So I usually have 2 cups worth of these a couple times a week! The texture almost just like a fry (not quite as we know it never will truly be the same) and like I said is a little sweet!

I also LOVE DIPPING SAUCE! So I've been making special IP friendly Fry sauce with the Walden Farms Ketchup, Walden Farms Ranch, and Sweet chili Sauce!

Now if you don't like the sweetness from the Jicama Fries you can also try the Rutabaga fries! 

For me these were easier to cut into thinner strips, and they got crunchier faster! also had more of a potato/ fry texture!! However, these are on the occasional vegetable list for IP Diet so I tend to do the Jicama more!

Did you know that Rutabaga is the cross between a cabbage and a turnip?! Don't be intimidated to cut these! It's actually really easy!

Prepping & Cooking your Rutabaga:

Step : Place the rutabaga on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut it vertically down the middle through the stalk. This creates two equal halves that can rest flat on the cutting board and make it easier to continue prepping.

Step 2:
With each rutabaga half on its flat side, slice each half into semi-circles You can cut them into 1/2 inch thickness. And you’ll notice that the end pieces usually have rough skin, so you can discard those.

Step 3: Remove the outer skin of the semi-circle piecesusing a small knife. You’ll find that since the outer peel is usually waxed to keep it fresh in grocery stores, it’s veryeasy to peel the skin. You can use a paring knife or a small vegetable peeler.

Step 4:Now that you’ve removed the skin, lay the pieces on a cutting board and
slice them into spears or sticksto mimic the shape of french fries. 

Then drizzle some olive oil all over the fries and rub them together so they’re all well coated by the oil and seasoning. When it comes to baking, I would recommend using two or even three baking dishes depending on the size of the rutabaga you started with.

You want to line up the rutabaga spears with enough room between them
so they’re not touching. This helps to create a more crispy factor so the rutabaga fries don’t turn out mushy.

Same thing for the Jicama, I burnt these the first time so around 400F and flip every 15 minutes until you get desired texture! Pair with the fry sauce and enjoy!