Green Papaya Salad

Hi all! Another glorious day today! I took advantage of an open morning to get in a good workout, spend some quality time with my herbs, and make a superiffic Green papaya salad! The recipe came from Ani Phyo's book, to which I've been referring more and more as the weather gets nicer! I find that I naturally gravitate toward more raw foods when the weather is nice.

This salad made a quick and filling lunch, and despite consisting of mostly papaya, does not have the overly fruity, indulgent sort of dessert taste one might expect froma more traditional fruit salad.

Here's the biz: (ps, I've no idea why I keep saying "here's the biz" other than that I heard it once in a B-52's song. Every time I use it I can hear Fred Schneider belting it out in that half-talky half-singy way he has.)

4 cups papaya, julienned (I tried my best, but they were already quite chunked, since I bought them pre-shucked at Whole Foods.)
2 cups of shredded carrots (you can buy them shredded, to save time, I generally have a few pounds of whole carrots at the ready, so I just did mine in the food processor.)
2 mildish red chilies (I seeded them and threw them in with he carrots. Please wear gloves when you work with hot peppers. I speak from the heart on this one.)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped raw almonds

For the dressing:
2 tbsp agave
2 tbsp lime juice

Assemblage:

Arrange the papayas in a fractal pattern radiating out from the center of a large but reasonable deep serving pattern. Place small teaspoon sized scoops of the carrot and pepper mixture over the areas where the papaya sections meet each other, then sprinkle with the almonds, cilantro, and basil, being careful not to garnish one area of the dish more heavily than any other. I recommend. Using a pendulum with slots in the bottom to distribute the herbs and almonds. If you don't have a kitchen pendulum, please check them out at Culinary Pendulum City. Very carefully, overturn the entire platter onto a second platter, drizzle with the dressing, then carefully re-invert the salad back onto the original platter.

Then dump the entire thing in a large bowl, mix it with your gloved hands, and let it sit about 20 minutes before you enjoy it. :-)

I forgot to take a nice picture because I immediately divvied it up in to-go containers for lunch at work today. Here's a shot of the glad ware on the reception desk at work:



Ps.. On a side note, I al very excited to be participating in a CSA program through Bishop's Orchards and I can't wait to share more information with you when it begins in early June!


-Posted using BlogPress

Location:Madison, CT