By School lets out Friday. The house shifts frequency immediately — from school-year mode, which has built-in structure, to summer mode, which has invented structure that lasts approximately four days before dissolving. I've tried different approaches to summer structure over the years and settled on this: mornings have a plan (running, reading, activities), afternoons are largely free, and dinners are at the table every night. This is enough structure to prevent complete entropy without being so rigid that summer stops feeling like summer.
Diego has a football camp in Las Cruces again in July, same as last year. He asked about it in March. He's been thinking about it since March. At ten, he has begun to attach his summer around football the way his father has always attached everything else around it. I find this familiar and complicated in the way that parenting is often familiar and complicated — you see yourself in your child and you're not always sure if what you're seeing is a gift you're passing on or a pattern you should examine.
Made green chile fish tacos this week — grilled mahi-mahi rubbed with cumin and chile powder, served in corn tortillas with a green chile crema (sour cream, roasted green chile, lime), pickled cabbage, and cilantro. Lisa requested fish when she saw I was planning tacos, and the adaptation was easy enough. The mahi is forgiving on the grill — it firms up rather than falling apart, which makes it manageable without a basket. The crema is the key. The crema makes the whole thing work. I've been putting green chile crema on things all spring and I don't see a natural stopping point.
Five weeks until Las Cruces. Summer has begun.
The mahi tacos have been on repeat, and somewhere along the way the green chile crema started demanding a proper sidekick — something with heat and crunch that wouldn’t get lost next to it. These spicy baked jicama fries have been filling that role. Jicama is mild enough to let the seasoning lead, firm enough to actually crisp in the oven, and Diego will eat a borderline alarming quantity of them without complaint, which in summer currency counts for a lot.
Spicy Baked Jicama Fries
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium jicama (about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch fry-shaped sticks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to heat preference)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Prep the jicama. Peel jicama and slice into planks roughly 1/4-inch thick, then cut each plank into fry-shaped sticks of uniform size so they cook evenly.
- Parboil. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add jicama sticks and cook for 8 minutes to soften slightly — this step is key for getting a tender interior. Drain well and pat dry thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel.
- Season. In a large bowl, toss the dried jicama sticks with olive oil until evenly coated. Add chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss well so every fry is coated in spice.
- Bake. Spread jicama fries in a single layer across the two prepared baking sheets — do not crowd them. Bake for 25—30 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the edges are golden and beginning to crisp.
- Finish and serve. Remove from oven and immediately squeeze fresh lime juice over the top if using. Transfer to a serving platter, scatter with cilantro, and serve hot alongside tacos or with your favorite dipping sauce.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 130 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 8g | Sodium: 370mg