Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day, but the healthier I started eating, the harder the time I had finding classic breakfast-type foods to eat. I love smoothies and green shakes but having them every morning gets boring. I limit the amount of grains I eat because I find that I have less inflammation/soreness and more energy when I don’t eat them as often, so oatmeal, pancakes and waffles are out. Whenever I eat cereal I’m hungry again about an hour later, so that’s out. And I have a food sensitivity to eggs, so no omlets for me.
Delicious, special breakfasts on weekend mornings have been a tradition/habit of mine ever since I could remember though. My dad used to make my brother and me pancakes on Saturday mornings, and bring us each a doughnut on Sunday mornings after his basketball games. Boston Cream were my favorite.
Now my special weekend breakfasts look a little different!
These jicama home fries have the ability to be a super-side dish or a filling main course by adding a protein like crumbled sausage. You’ll get all of jicama’s awesome health benefits, like it’s antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties, high fiber and vitamin C content, and energy boosting properties.
Jicama is a vegetable you may not be familiar with, so here’s how to work with it and make this dish:
The first step is to peel the jicama. You can use a standard vegetable peeler, or you can peel it kind of like a banana. Cut off the top and bottom of the vegetable. Working from top to bottom, place your knife at an angle where the newly sliced off top meets the skin and make a little dig in, enough that you can grab with your fingers and start to pull.
Pull the slice of skin fresh off! Repeat until all of the skin is gone.
Next, you’ll cut the jicama into small cubes. I start by cutting it in half (the tall way), then making slices about 1/2″ thick.
Then I cut those rounds into sticks, then again into cubes.
Next I throw the cubes into a skillet over medium heat, along with some water, and cook for a few minutes to start to soften, then remove from heat.
Then I prep the rest of my veggies. You can add any that you’d like, but I like to use a bell pepper, onion, some mushrooms, and some tomatoes. You’ll want to dice those up and start cooking those in the skillet too.
When they’ve started to soften, add back the jicama, and keep it cooking (stirring occasionally) and add your spices. Keep cooking until they start to brown.
Then that’s it! You have your jicama home fries. I love topping mine with some avocado and minced cilantro.
Looking for another recipe with using jicama? Check out my how-to guide for making jicama taco shells. They’re amazing!
- 1 medium-sized jicama, peeled, diced into 1/2" pieces (will yield about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 4-5 baby bella or small white mushrooms, diced
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
- Dash cayenne pepper (optional)
- Avocado to serve
- Place diced jicama and some oil of your choice (I use coconut) in a pre-heated skillet. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add 2 tablespoons of water and cover. Allow to soften for about 8 minutes over medium heat, then transfer to a large bowl.
- Add a little more oil to the skillet, along with the onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Saute for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the seasonings. Stir to mix and incorporate.
- Add the jicama back to the skillet, stirring occasionally, until browned to preference. Top with parsley and serve.
- Avocado or guacamole is great on top.
- To make this a heartier dish, add some crumbled sausage or ground meat.
