Green Papaya Chop Salad

Green Papaya is a fun ingredient. While ripe papaya is bright orange, soft, and a bit pungent, unripe green papaya is pale green, pleasantly firm, mild, and refreshing. Low in calories and very high in Vitamin C, green papaya is known to contain enzymes which are beneficial to the digestive system. In both taste and versatility, green papaya reminds me a bit of zucchini.

This recipe pairs the nutritional goodness of green papaya with other low-calorie, vitamin rich ingredients – brightly colored bell peppers, unpeeled cucumber, fresh lime and ginger. Fish sauce adds a layer of complexity to the flavor profile; if you’d prefer, you can blend together a bit of soy sauce and brown sugar, and use that instead. Either way, this is a guilt-free dish to feel good about!

Ingredients (Makes 4 large or 8 small servings)

1 green papaya (8 inches long), peeled, seeded, and diced

2 bell peppers (any color), seeded and diced

1 cucumber, unpeeled but seeded and diced

1 lime

1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Directions

Step 1) Combine diced green papaya, peppers, and cucumber. Set aside.

Step 2) Grate ginger over a small bowl. Squeeze the juice from the lime into the same bowl. Add fish sauce and whisk to combine.

Step 3) Drizzle dressing over the diced vegetables and toss lightly to combine. Garnish with wedges cut from the squeezed lime, and serve.