Where going vegan gets difficult is in the substitutions: the meat substitutions, the dairy substitutions, even the honey substitutions.

But if all you're focused on is forcing one product to try and imitate another, you're missing the entire point of going vegan: enjoying plants on their own merits, and exploring new foods for their own inherent possibilities. Miss butter? Try avocado. Miss honey? Try agave nectar. Miss butter? Try olive oil. Miss dairy? Try almond milk. Miss cream? Try coconut milk.

My favorite discovery from this short amount of time has been roasted jicama. I'm a big fan of roasting vegetables in general -- it takes very little prep work and even picky eaters can be convinced to eat a nicely browned and caramelized carrot with a pinch of salt on top. I experimented throwing jicama into a bunch of different cold salads, but quickly grew bored of this application. Instead, I cut the fibrous vegetable into French fry-like slices, tossed them in olive oil and salt, then threw them into a 425 oven for an hour to see what happened.

It turns out that roasted jicama is the magical intersection of a roasted potato -- with its satisfying little crunch -- and a roasted carrot, the jicama's inherent sweetness only enhanced by the roasting time.

If I weren't experimenting with a vegan diet, I wouldn't have discovered this new favorite. And I can't wait to see what discoveries I encounter next.

Stick around tomorrow when we highlight some of the best vegan restaurants around town.