I’m all about Instagram’s Boomerang application right now. I wish I could make all of my posts with Boomerang (like this one), but I’m sure that would get obnoxious real quickly.

Speaking of obnoxious, did you see my Instagram cover reveal? I posted every 30 minutes for about 4.5 hours and slowly released the cover of my new cookbook.

I saw some rapper drop an album cover that way and I thought it was cool, but I’m pretty sure about 200 of you stopped following Inspiralized because of it. Whoops.

Anyway, I’m excited not only about Instagram’s Boomerang feature, but ALSO about this dang good taco recipe. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it incorporates two of my favorite things: avocadoes and spiralizing.

The jicama is tangy, slightly spicy, and offers the perfect amount of moisture to make these tacos THE best.

And how doesn’t love some guacamole-style avocado mash? Every bite is that much more delicious.

If you don’t do tortillas, you’re crazy. Juuuussstt kidding. If you don’t do tortillas, make these lettuce wraps instead!

In case you don’t know how to build a taco, here’s a fun collage for you:

That’s it! Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. Lu’s mother is in town and we celebrated our niece’s one year birthday yesterday. She’s the absolute most precious little person in the world (don’t believe me?)

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 7 points (per taco)

*These points were calculated using the official Weight Watchers SmartPoints calculator. We are in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, we are providing this information based on popular demand.

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Black Bean Tacos with Spiralized Jicama and Avocado Mash

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• For jicama salad:
• 1 medium jicama peeled, Blade C, noodles trimmed
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper
• For the avocado mash:
• 1 small jalapeno minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 avocado peeled, pitted
• For the rest:
• 2 15- oz can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 12 corn tortillas or bibb lettuce, if making lettuce wraps

Instructions

• Place the black beans and broth in a medium pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook for 5 minutes or until liquid reduces by about 1/2. Using a fork or a potato masher, roughly mash the beans. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until liquid reduces.
• While the beans cook, prepare the jicama salsa and avocado mash. Place all of the ingredients for the jicama salsa into a large mixing bowl and toss thoroughly to combine. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, place in all of the ingredients for the avocado mash and mash until the mixture is smooth with some chunks.
• When the beans are ready, build your tacos! Set out one taco and add a spoonful of beans. Top with jicama salsa and then avocado mash. Repeat to build 12 tacos.

The post Black Bean Tacos with Spiralized Jicama and Avocado Mash appeared first on Inspiralized.

I forgot to touch base about the Golden Globes in yesterday’s post.

What did everyone think?!

Every year, I’m usually really emotionally invested in who wins what, but this year, there were only two people I really wanted to win.

The fact that I’m remotely invested in any of this is pretty sad, but what can I tell you, I love celebrities, movies, TV, and entertainment in general. I’m definitely a Netflix marathoner and have wasted many-a-paycheck on the tabloids.

Anyway, I really wanted Leonardo DiCaprio to win best actor for The Revenant and I wanted Jennifer Lawrence to win best actress for Joy. So yea, I was happy!

If you’re an entrepreneur, go see Joy. I was really inspired by her acting, her story and just her pure drive to be successful and make something of herself, despite a series of seriously unfortunate events and odds.

As I was watching the Golden Globes, of course, Lu and I were planning on how we’d spend our $500 million if we won the $1.4 billion lottery. Sadly, we did not win, because, well, I’m still here.

On to this recipe – this dish is meant to be a spicy, flavorful chunky stew that’s served over jicama noodles, sort of like celery is served with buffalo wings – you need something crispy and refreshing to balance your palate.

The cold, refreshing jicama noodles are the perfect complement to this robust “stew” (and I put stew in quotes because it’s really not a stew, but I don’t know what else to call it.)

If you don’t want the noodles cold, you can heat them up in the skillet before serving – do you, it’s your preference!

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 10 points

*These points were calculated using the official Weight Watchers SmartPoints calculator. We are in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, we are providing this information based on popular demand.

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Chorizo and Chickpea Harissa Stew with Spiralized Jicama

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 chorizo links sliced
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas drained, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes no salt added
• 1/2 cup chicken broth low sodium
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons red harissa sauce or substitute with 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt to taste
• 1 medium jicama
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions

• Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add in the oil. Once oil heats, add in the onions, red pepper and garlic and let cook for 3-5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add in the chorizo and let cook for another 2 minutes to let the chorizos release their flavor. Add in the chickpeas, tomatoes, broth, oregano, bay leaf, paprika, harissa, cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Taste and adjust with more salt, if needed.
• While the mixture cooks, peel and spiralize the jicama using Blade C. Trim the noodles with a kitchen shear and divide into bowls.
• When chickpea mixture is cooked, top each jicama bowl with the mixture and garnish with parsley.

The post Chorizo and Chickpea Harissa Stew with Spiralized Jicama appeared first on Inspiralized.

So I have an interesting story.

A couple weeks ago, I went to Rockaway Beach with my friends to celebrate my good friend Cassidy’s 28th birthday.

We drank micheladas, basked in the sun and ended up back in Brooklyn for a little surprise par-tay.

Before I tell you the story, I just want to tell you that this mango-almond jicama and cabbage salad is a great for a no-cook summer. It’s packed with color, freshness and healthy nutrients. It saves well in the refrigerator and goes well with any type of protein – quinoa, chicken or heck, even pork chops!

One note about this recipe is that the dressing is a bit sweet (on account of the mango), so if you’re looking to make it less sweet, use a little less mango and add in half an avocado.

Back to the story. Rockaway Beach is great – it’s a closer, more hip alternative to the Jersey shore. It’s a little grittier, but in a very cool, real way. I really recommend visiting if you live in the NYC area!

As we go to leave the beach, I see a girl, standing in front of this cute lime green brick building. As I come closer, I see she’s holding a ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles.

Mm, I think, where can we find that?

As I get closer, I see she’s posing in front of a guy, who is taking pictures of her. She tilts her head back, smirks and giggles, although I didn’t hear him say a word.

I sound like I’m writing a column in Cosmo, but I promise there’s a point!

I stopped and a few feet behind him, waiting for my friends, I realized what they were doing – staging an Instagram picture.

The girl goes, “Okay, one more!” and she sticks her tongue out, barely gracing the top of the swirly ice cream.

Almost immediately she looks completely disinterested in the ice cream in front of her, shoves it into her man-friend’s hands and goes, “You ready?”

The ice cream wasn’t even hers, people!! It was just for Instagram!

I just thought that was a funny story.

What do you think?

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 4 points

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Mango-Almond Jicama and Cabbage Salad

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• For the dressing:
• 1.5 cups diced mango about 1 full mango
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1.5 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt to taste
• For the rest:
• 1 medium jicama peeled, Blade C
• 1 cup diced scallions
• 1 cup cooked edamame
• 1 cup of spiralized red cabbage using Blade A

Instructions

• Place all of the ingredients for the dressing into a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust, if necessary.
• Combine the jicama noodles, scallions, edamame and spiralized cabbage into a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle with the dressing, toss again and set aside in the refrigerator. Let chill for 10 minutes, then toss together and plate. Garnish each bowl with avocado.

The post Mango-Almond Jicama and Cabbage Salad appeared first on Inspiralized.

One of the best parts about tortilla soup are the crispy tortilla strips that rest on top of the soup.

They’re crunchy, flavorful and fill you up – tortilla soup is by no mean sa heavy, thicks oup so the tortilla strips are welcomed.

BUT, tortilla strips are often made from fried flour tortillas and contained processed ingredients, so it can be a pain to find a healthy option when grocery shopping.

My solution? Top your tortilla soup with crunchy jicama noodles! These jicama noodles are made using Blade C on the Inspiralizer, which yields the perfect tortilla strip-shaped thickness.

When the soup is made, all you need to do is top it with the fresh jicama noodles and although they’ll heat up in the soup as you eat it, they’ll maintain most of their crunchiness.

Plus, jicama is of Mexican origin (it’s a tuber) – and it has a lovely nutty, slightly sweet texture that’s easy on the palate and brings its own set of nutrients to this dish.

Jicama is very low-calorie, so it’s waistline-friendly and is an excellent source of Vitamin C and dietary fiber. Victory!

The first time I made this recipe, I added in shredded chicken for extra protein, which is a great addition if you’re not vegan. Other additions include tofu and shrimp! Otherwise, this soup is perfect as is.

A small note about the serving size – it makes 4 very large bowls of soup (like I like it) or 6 smaller bowls – more of a lunch size or a dinner appetizer.

Whatever your preference, you’re going to love this soup.

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 8 points

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Tortilla Soup with Jicama Noodles

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small white or yellow onion diced
• 1 large garlic clove minced
• 1 large jalapeno seeded and finely diced
• 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or chicken broth, if not vegan
• 1 14.5-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 14.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 avocado pitted, sliced
• 2 small limes juiced
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 medium jicama Blade C
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a large saucepan heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalapenos and cook for another minute.
• Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add avocado, lime juice, and fresh cilantro to the pot, letting cook for 2-3 more minutes to let the flavors deepend. Season with pepper and salt.
• Ladle soup into bowls and top each with about 1/2 cup of jicama noodles.

The post Tortilla Soup with Jicama Noodles appeared first on Inspiralized.

As I write this, I’m at LaGuardia Airport in New York, waiting for a flight to take off. I have one of those quick day trip work meetings, out at 5am and back at 9pm.

Although it’s a long day, I have always enjoyed trips like these. In my first job, I barely ever traveled. In my second job, all I did was travel.

With that second job, I did plenty of quick trips all over the country. I traveled all around the world, too – England, Belgium, even Africa.

Of course, while I prefer to fly at normal hours of the day (ie 9am-5pm), I’ve always kind of enjoyed the “rat race” at the airports.

There’s something invigorating about seeing everyone racing around, making flights, rushing off to meetings, finishing work on laptops and closing deals on the phone, while making through security.

However, after over a year of traveling every week, it was a breath of fresh air when I quit that job and started Inspiralized.

Every once in a while, I do miss “corporate life.” I miss lunch dates, coworker banter, happy hours and well, getting dressed in the morning. Sometimes Lu gets home around 7pm and goes, “Are you STILL in your pajamas?”

I can’t help it! I want to be comfortable while I cook – that uniform usually consists of spandex and a cruddy t-shirt I don’t mind spilling oil on or staining with beet juice.

When I do run errands, though, I put a little effort in – I’ll put on some mascara, wear jeans and maybe, just maybe – I’ll blow dry my hair.

Anyway, while I do miss certain things about working in “corporate America,” I wouldn’t trade in what I’m doing now for any job in the world – I’ve found my happy place and I’m here to stay.

So today’s recipe is made obviously with jicama. I was looking through my Recipes index the other day and I realized that I only had one jicama recipe (I have more jicama recipes in the cookbook than the blog!) – so I had to change that.

Jicama is typically found as a garnish, thrown atop a bed of greens or used as a cole slaw – it’s very popular in Mexican cuisine.

Jicama is one of those very underrated veggies, I think – it’s got a nice, crisp flavor and it’s low in calories. It takes on any seasonings you add very well and it’s crunchy – perfect for summertime slaws and light weeknight meals.

This simple lime dressing with cilantro is all you need with the jicama – it freshens everything up, gives a bit of tang and works nicely with the chili powder and creaminess of the avocado and sweetness of the corn.

The shrimp is the “cherry on top” – the rich flavors of the paprika and garlic powder seasoning shines with every bite and offers a filling but lean protein.

Alright, they just announced that my flight is boarding. Wish me safe travels!

In just a short 14 hours, I’ll be back in my apartment, chilling in my jammies again.

Have you spiralized a jicama yet?

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Time to prepare: 25 minutes
Time to cook: 10 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
For the shrimp:
½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
18 medium shrimp, defrosted, deveined, shelled
½ teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

For the salad:
1 ear of corn, shucked
1 medium jicama (1 pound), peeled, Blade C, noodles trimmed
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and insides cubed
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

For the dressing:
juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Place an ear of corn into a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cook for 2 minutes or until corn is fork-tender and then drain into a colander and set aside.

Meanwhile, place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once oil heats, add in the shrimp and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook for 2 minutes and flip over, cooking another 1-2 minutes or until shrimp is opaque. Transfer shrimp to a plate.

In the large mixing bowl, toss together the corn (shave the kernels off the cob with a knife), jicama, chili powder, avocado, cabbage and cilantro. Pour over the dressing and toss thoroughly to combine.

Divide into bowls and top with shrimp.

The post Chili-Lime Jicama and Corn Shrimp Salad appeared first on Inspiralized.

Whenever I spiralize a new vegetable, I want to scream on top of the rooftops and let everyone know how exciting it is. Spiralizing just really revolutionizes the way we consume vegetables.

Now enter jicama, as a perfect example of how spiralizing a vegetable changes not only its shape and texture, but it’s flavor. Typically, jicama (pronounced HEE-kah-ma) is pretty bland and uneventful: Cooking Light refers to it as a “cross between a water chestnut and a pear.” Not terribly exciting.

However, when you spiralize a jicama, season it and cook it: it’s tasty and a fun way to add a new veggie into your routine. Jicama is a vegetable that’s native to Mexico and is most frequently seen as a slaw or served crunchy and raw in a salad. It’s also a perennial vegetable, which makes it available year-round!

To spiralize the vegetable, you simply need to peel it (it can be peeled using a peeler or just by cutting off the ends and peeling off the skin with your fingers) and load it into the spiralizer (chop it in half first, if it’s too large).

Jicama spiralizes very easily, neatly and quickly.

For now? Since we’re on a healthy kick (on account of the New Year), I’ve made a healthier, low-cal, low-carb, Paleo and gluten-free version of shoe string French fries! You’re welcome, because these are spicy, salty, savory and, well, just plain addictive.

What sort of health benefits do you get from jicama? Well, it’s packed with dietary fiber, antioxidants, Vitamin C and, of course, it’s only 35 calories per 100g!

Next time you’re making burgers or chicken and want a healthy yet satisfying and indulgent side dish, make these spicy shoestring jicama fries – you won’t believe they’re not real potatoes! Dip them in a chipotle aioli or even some ketchup and you’ll fall off your chair they’re so dang good.

And totally Superbowl friendly! Make a big batch of these and serve them in cute little mini-portion colored bowls or classy white ramekins. Your friends will be thanking you for making such a healthy but yummy snack for watching the big game.

I can’t wait to share with you my other jicama dishes. Think cilantro dressed jicama noodles, chorizo, corn, lime, avocado and tacos. Yes, I’ll leave you with all that.

Who likes jicama? 

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Spicy Spiralized Shoe String Jicama Fries

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 5

Ingredients

• 1 large jicama
• olive oil to drizzle (about 2 tbsp)
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp chili powder

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 405 degrees.
• Lay out your jicama noodles and snip them with a scissor to divide into smaller sized noodles, similar to shoestring fries.
• When done, lay your noodles onto two large baking trays, drizzle with olive oil and toss together to combine and coat noodles.
• Season with a generous amount of salt and then evenly season with onion powder, cayenne pepper and chili powder. Toss again to combine and then lay them out, trying hard not to crowd them.
• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, turn over and bake another 10-15 minutes or until they reach your doneness preference. Divide onto plates and enjoy as a snack or a side dish!

The post Spicy Spiralized Shoe String Jicama Fries appeared first on Inspiralized.