Make Fruit Salad Great Again: 4 Easy Papaya Salad Recipes | Herbal Goodness

 Show of hands if you love fruit salad…

When most people think of fruit salad, what pops to mind is a big bowl made up of a smorgasbord of cut-up fresh fruit.

[Boring!]

If you are still traumatized by the thought of bland fruit salads, our mission today is to heal your wounds with a few papaya recipes to make your salads less blah. And what better time to do it than now with summer just around the corner. Because nothing screams summer quite like a refreshing serving of delicious, colorful fruit salad!

Below, meet some easy papaya salads you will relish making all season long.

1. Smashed Papaya Salad

Southeast Asian countries are well known for their fondness for papaya. It thus comes as no surprise to learn that papaya is a star ingredient in many of their salads, as evidenced by this inventive recipe from Laos.

What you’ll need

• 2 cups shredded green papaya
• 6 cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 5-10 fresh Thai chili peppers (depending on your taste)
• Purple or green cabbage
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp shrimp paste
• Fish sauce to taste
• Lime juice to taste
• Toasted pumpkin seeds or peanuts for garnish
• Pork rinds for garnish

Serves two

Directions

• Throw the garlic, chili peppers, sugar and shrimp paste in a mortar and crash them together until you achieve a rough mixture.
• Add the shredded green papaya and tomatoes and smash some more.
• Use the fish sauce and lime juice to season.
• Next, pour the mixture into a bowl of chopped cabbage and dress with pumpkin seeds or peanuts and pork rinds.
• Serve.
  

2. Cucumber-Papaya-Onion Salad

Who said papaya salad has to be made from fruit and only fruit? This recipe combines papaya and readily available vegetables like onion and well…onion…considering cucumber is technically a fruit (but so are nuts and grains!).

What you’ll need

• 3 cups papaya diced into ½-inch cubes
• 2 cups cucumber – peeled, seeded and diced into ½-inch cubes
• ¼ cup, finely chopped red onion
• ¼ cup thinly chopped green onion
• ¼ cup cilantro (chopped)
• Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lime
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of sea salt and pepper

Serves 4

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Serve as is.

3. Avocado Papaya Salad

Next up on our list of easy papaya salads is this zesty salsa packed with essential vitamins and antioxidants. It works great on its own or as an accompaniment for, say, chicken or white fish.

What you’ll need

• 1 ripe papaya
• 1 avocado (firm is best)
• ½ red onion (small)
• 1 red chili (deseeded)
• 1 generous handful of cilantro
• 1 generous handful of basil
• Freshly-squeezed juice from 1 lemon
• 1 lime, juiced and zested
• 1 tsp raw honey (or favorite sweetener)
• Pinch of salt
• A pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4

Directions

• Peel and seed both the papaya and avocado, dice them into small cubes and toss them into a mixing bowl. Dice the onion and red chili, and throw them to this mix. Do the same for the cilantro and basil, making sure to chop finely.
• Add the lime zest and mix it all well.
• Next, pour the freshly-squeezed lemon juice into a jar, add a sprinkle of salt followed by the honey and mix properly.
• Pour this dressing over your salad mixture, blend it well and season with the black pepper.
• Serve.

4. Mildly Spicy Green Papaya Salad

Green papaya salad has to be the most common papaya salad recipe. But the beauty of it is that it is as varied as it is common. Considering most of its variants trace their roots to Thailand (another Southeast Asian nation), most green papaya salads you come across tend to be a little hot on the taste. Not this bad boy that you ready as follows though…

What you’ll need

Salad

• 2 cups shredded green papaya
• ½ cup thinly sliced green beans
• ¼ cup grated carrot
• 3 tbsp whole toasted peanuts
• ½ cup grape tomatoes (quartered)
• ¼ cup fresh Thai basil leaves
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
• ¼ cup fresh mint leaves

Dressing

• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp light-brown sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tsp minced lemongrass
• ½ tsp grated garlic
• ¾ tsp grated ginger
• ¼ freshly chopped Thai chili
• ¼ tspn kosher salt

Directions

• Take the dressing ingredients and combine them all in a mixing bowl. Allow to sit for five minutes, stirring now and again until the sugar dissolves completely.
• Take the papaya, green beans and carrot and toss them into the dressing.
• Mix gently with your hands for about 30 seconds to blend the flavors and allow the dressing to infuse the papaya.
• Finally, add the peanuts, tomatoes, basil leaves, cilantro and mint leaves and stir to blend.
• Serve

You’re welcome...

Suggested Read: Salsa de Papaya Picante Recipe | Herbal Goodness and Roasted Papaya and Parsnips Recipe | Herbal Goodness