My weekend trip to the neighborhood grocery was quite 'fruit'ful in the literal sense of the word! I came back with tons of amazing fruit which I really want to bake with unless the husband decides to eat it all. I also bought a raw papaya after remembering something about its nutritive value. Eons ago, I had written an article about the health benefits of raw papaya and how it is a great add on to salads so I decided to try it.
See how good it is? My search for a raw papaya salad led to discovering Som Tam, which is a Thai salad. It sounded great and I had most of the ingredients at home. I did make a few changes to the original recipe which is why I am calling this a Mango and Raw Papaya Salad and nothing fancy.
Mango and Raw Papaya Salad - makes enough for two.
1 small green papaya (the inside should be white or light yellow)
1 mango (remove peels and dice)
1 large cucumber
1 medium red apple
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup chopped almonds/roasted peanuts/cashews/walnuts
For Som Tam dressing -
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (you can also use fish sauce)
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp salt
Cut the papaya, cucumber, and apple into thin, long slices and add to a large mixing bowl. Make sure you remove cucumber seeds otherwise the papaya will lose its crunch. Add the mango, bean sprouts and almonds.
To make the dressing, add all the wet ingredients to a glass jar. Close lid and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds or so.
Add the dressing just before serving the salad. Serve chilled.
So, here's the nutrition lowdown -
Raw papaya or green papaya has 0% fat and cholesterol. What it does have is lots of dietary fiber, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A. According to most nutritionists, it is a great snack for those on a diet or people trying to lose weight.
See how good it is? My search for a raw papaya salad led to discovering Som Tam, which is a Thai salad. It sounded great and I had most of the ingredients at home. I did make a few changes to the original recipe which is why I am calling this a Mango and Raw Papaya Salad and nothing fancy.
Mango and Raw Papaya Salad - makes enough for two.
1 small green papaya (the inside should be white or light yellow)
1 mango (remove peels and dice)
1 large cucumber
1 medium red apple
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup chopped almonds/roasted peanuts/cashews/walnuts
For Som Tam dressing -
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (you can also use fish sauce)
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp salt
Cut the papaya, cucumber, and apple into thin, long slices and add to a large mixing bowl. Make sure you remove cucumber seeds otherwise the papaya will lose its crunch. Add the mango, bean sprouts and almonds.
To make the dressing, add all the wet ingredients to a glass jar. Close lid and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds or so.
Add the dressing just before serving the salad. Serve chilled.
thank you so much khushbooo for sharing this great post, I had been looking for a tried n tested recipe for papaya salad. Will definitely give it a go...perhaps without adding sprouts at first as we are having this e-coli alarm here in Germany these days but Im sure that wwont make much a difference or what do you suggest as alternative?
ReplyDeleteYou can definitely skip the sprouts. I added them only cos I had them handy! I read about the E. coli alarm too but I guess if you make sprouts at home, then it should not be a problem right?
ReplyDeleteHey came here through your comment on my blog. I feel in love with Thai salads at Chiang Mai. Love the contrast in textures that it gives to a curry and rice meal. Raw mange that you have used is something I paired with fish recently and turned out to be pretty interesting. The only difference is that I use bigger, what the veggie guys here call 'Chinese', sprouts
ReplyDeletethanks! yep. Chinese moong sprouts are bigger, from what I have seen on TV.
ReplyDelete