Welcome to Day 2 of my post-holiday reset. This process reminds me that I prefer to eat healthy, whole foods prepared myself, but I get caught up in convenience and years of bad habits. This is a time of year when we all feel the pressure to jump on the fitness bandwagon, purge all our bad habits and suffer. Why do we do this to ourselves? I’m trying to take a different approach this year and work on establishing goals and habits that I can follow all year long. So the rules for this journey is that there are no rules. Don’t think of food as good or bad, clean or dirty. Think of what will nourish your mind and body and make you the best and happiest version of yourself. There will be bread and dessert, along with lots of salads, like this Thai royal papaya mango salad. Experience has taught me that as soon as I declare a food off-limits, it becomes an instant obsession. So, I’m looking for a good balance and counting on lots of fruits and vegetables to satisfy and fill me up without feeling deprived.
This salad is a slight variation on a traditional green papaya salad. However, I couldn’t easily find any green papayas so I thought I’d try this royal papaya and I was happy with the results. Any papaya will work but you want it to be firm and unripe, otherwise, the texture will be too soft. If you want to make this salad vegan, omit the fish sauce and substitute with soy sauce. The salad would also be great with the addition of shrimp or tofu if you want to make it more substantial but I find it makes a great light lunch as is.
- For the salad:
- 1 royal papaya, peeled and seeded
- 1 mango, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
- For the dressing:
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1½ tablespoons Asian fish sauce or 1½ tablespoons soy sauce if vegan
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1fresh Thai red chile or serrano chile
- ¼ cup fresh herbs
- ½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- To garnish:
- ¼ cup fresh mint or basil or a combination of both
- ¼ cup roasted chopped cashews for garnish
- Using the finest julienne blade of a mandoline or a serrated vegetable peeler, finely shred the papaya and place into a large bowl. Add the mango and tomatoes and toss gently to combine.
- For the dressing place the garlic, coconut sugar, lime juice, lime zest, canola oil, fish sauce or soy sauce, rice vinegar, chile, and herbs into the bowl of a food processor. Process until the herbs are chopped and everything is combined. Add the green beans and pulse 3 or 4 times just to break the beans down a bit.
- Add the dressing to the vegetables and toss to combine. Taste and season with salt as needed. To serve, garnish with the cashews and additional herbs.
