Citrus Jicama Salad

So my mom and my in-laws came to visit us this Mother's day weekend, we spent a lot of time together and had a lot going on.  We were trying to have a more relaxed weekend than usual.  Most of the time when Kris' parents come for the weekend it is so her dad will help with some house hold project that I am unable to do on my own.  I like to say that I installed the floors throughout the house or refinished the bathroom but in truth I mostly watched and tried to follow instructions as best I could.

"Jeez, how hard can it be?  All you gotta do is cut a perfectly straight line  1/16 of an inch from the edge of  a hard plastic panel then put the 5 foot square on the wall perfectly straight on the only try that you get and hold it until I say you are done... maybe ten minutes maybe LONGER." 

It just isn't my area of expertise, I try to do these things but, as I refer to my writing sometimes, I am a bit of a ham handed hack.  Carpentry I understand, electric work scares most of my loved ones to death (Bryan, metal tools, live wiring what could go wrong?) and plumbing... forget about it.  In the end the best I can do is make a really good meal after a day of light construction is done, which makes up for some of my inadequacies I hope anyway.  

This visit Kris and I just wanted to have a good time and hang out with our family.  Kris did most of the planning I did most of the cooking.  There were several meals in our bacchanalia of a weekend I some old favorites and some new thing, that I will write about in the coming days.  The first; partly because I am feeling springy and partly because I left my flash drive at work AGAIN and this is the one of the pictures I can get to.

 

Jicama Citrus Salad, Serves Four

The Dressing 

3 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
2 TBS fresh cilantro chopped, most of the stems removed
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup + 2 TBS olive oil
1/3 cup orange juice
Juice from two limes
grated zest of one lime
Salt and a little pepper (to taste)

I put all of this right into the blender and blended until done taste and adjust if needed.  I made this a couple of days ahead.

The Salad
2 medium sized oranges peeled and segmented
2 honey tangerines peeled and segmented
1 mango peeled and diced
1/2 of a softball sized jicama peeled and julienned
1/4 cup of olive oil
just a splash of orange juice and a sprinkle of salt

You will want to make this a couple of hours ahead so the flavors will marry.  When it is time to serve, line your plates with Boston lettuce I used two heads for the four salads and top with the citrus mixture.  Sprinkle some cilantro on top then dress, you will have plenty of the citrus vinaigrette left over for later (bonus).  The salad is like a plate full of sunshine, light and refreshing.