Earth Day is almost here (April 22, 2012). It has nothing to do with salad going tropical.
Today's recipe, excerpted from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook (Kyle Books, Spring 2012) is perfect for Summer like Spring we've experienced this week.
Papaya Salad
SERVES 2
Papayas, or pawpaws as they are known in some parts of the world, are sweet, perfumed tropical
fruits with deliciously soft flesh. This is an ideal dish for communal eating on a hot summer
evening, with everyone tucking in using lettuce leaves as scoops.
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3–4 small fresh red or green chiles, chopped
2 yard-long beans or 20 French beans,
chopped into 2-inch lengths
11/2 cups fresh papaya, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 tomato, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
TO SERVE
Boston lettuce leaves
Pound the garlic in a large mortar, then add the chiles and pound again. Add the beans, breaking them up slightly, then tip into a bowl. Add the papaya to the bowl and lightly mash together, then stir in the tomato and lightly mash again.
Add the sugar and lime juice, stirring well, then transfer to a serving dish. Serve with lettuce leaves, which can be used as a scoop for the mixture.
(* Recipe from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook edited by Annie Rigg, photography by Tara Fisher, Kyle Books- March 2012, reproduced by permission of the publisher)