Yesterday was a crazy day. I got up at 3 am to go and shoot one of the top pastry chefs in the country for Shooting the Kitchen. Can’t tell you who it is yet but the post should be up by the end of the week. Believe me, it isn’t a raw patisserie. Everything was stunningly beautiful. Somehow I managed to leave without any goodies. Now, that’s willpower!

It was a busy morning. At 7:30 am I had to leave the shoot to go and do a radio interview for The Fresh and Local radio show. As soon as that was done, it was back to a local farmer’s market to do more shooting. By the time I got home, I was completely exhausted. My score for the morning? A big bag of homegrown goodies from Bonnie Dehn, one of the radio show’s co-hosts.

In that bag was a beautiful bunch of dill that had been picked that morning. I held it up to my nose and thoughts of my mother’s potato salad started to fill my head. I wanted to use the dill, but not in anything cooked. So, I came up with a mock potato salad that uses jicama!

Jicama is a wonderfully diverse tuber that originated in Mexico. It’s white flesh is juicy, crunchy, a little sweet and packed with fiber. It is low in calories, one cup only has 46 and contains a good amount of vitamin C. It makes a wonderful base for this salad.

PRINT THIS Jicama Dill Salad SERVES 4-6 Dressing 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 teaspoons dried mustard

2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon diced garlic (dried)

4 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped Place all ingredients in high-speed blender. Blend until smooth. *Note: This will make a little over a cup of dressing. You will not need the whole amount for the recipe. Salad 6 cups jicama, cubed (about 1 large jicama)

1 cup scallions, sliced

2 cup celery

1/2 to 2/3 cup dill dressing Toss together: jicama, scallions, celery Mix in 1/2 to 2/3 cup dressing (to taste). Top with more fresh dill if desired.