Fresh Carrot, Kale, Jicama, and Kidney Bean Salad

You eat with your eyes first, and then with your stomach. Here’s a salad that is not only pretty to look at but super delicious! Keep in mind the orange color of the carrots tinted my peeled jicama, but I swear there were pretty white jicama slivers in the bowl for a second.

1. Wash your carrots and use your vegetable peeler to remove the exterior skin of the carrots. Once the exterior skin is removed, throw it away. Continue using the vegetable peeler on the carrot to create long paper-thin slivers of the carrot. Then place all your carrot slivers in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Wash your kale and remove the leafy green from its center stems just by ripping off bite-sized pieces. Place the kale in a bowl, sprinkle some olive oil on top, and start using your hands to massage the kale until it feels soft, approximately 1 minute if you massage well. You may not be used to massaging your food but you better get in there so you can soften the kale so it’s not so leafy and stiff when you eat it.

3. Grab your whole jicama and slice off 1/4 of it. Using a sharp knife (but don’t cut yourself!) remove the skin of the jicama just like you would remove the peel of an apple. Once the skin is removed from the jicama, use your vegetable peeler to create paper-thin slivers of the jicama. Do not combine the jicama with the carrot peels yet or else you’ll tint them orange like I did. But in case you like orange-tinted jicama, go ahead and do it!

4. Open the can of kidney beans and pour them into a colander to rinse them off with cold water so they are shiny and clean.

5. Now combine the kidney beans, kale, and jicama with the carrot slivers. Toss the salad to evenly distribute everything together. Add salt and pepper to taste and some salad dressing you have in your refrigerator.

6. Serve and eat immediately because you don’t want orange-tinted jicama!