Name: Jicama Salad with Lime Juice and Fresh Mint
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 medium jicama (1 1/2-2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes; 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil; 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 3/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (or 1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 25 fresh mint leaves, cut into thin strips; 2 tablespoons (or feta or goat cheese)

Why it works: Jicama and lime share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 80 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Jicama Salad with Lime Juice and Fresh Mint

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 medium jicama (1 1/2-2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (or 1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt
25 fresh mint leaves, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons (or feta or goat cheese)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

400Calories

15 gProtein

32 gFat

17 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Feta Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Goat Cheese	1 oz (28g)	103
Jicama	1 cup (120g)	46
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Peppermint	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Jicama + limetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together80 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lime + minttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together846 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + goat cheesetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together573 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Jicama + minttop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Olive + limetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,621 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the jicama

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, lime, mint, goat cheese):

Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Cucumberfits better
Jicamathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, lime, mint, goat cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.