Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp: Beating the Heat with Mark Bittman

Can you believe it is already August?! Right in the heat of the summer here in the U.S. and time to Beat the Heat at I Heart Cooking Clubs. I think South Asian foods and flavors with their fresh, tangy, spicy tastes are a perfect way to cook in the hot summer weather. Finding some bags of already shredded green papaya at the farmers market last week, I knew I wanted to make a salad and Mark Bittman's Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp from "Kitchen Express" looked both simple and delicious.

With a bag of shrimp in my freezer, I pretty much had everything I needed to throw this together for an easy summer dinner. The shrimp is the only thing that needs to be cooked and it cooks quickly, so this is a good dish to make and enjoy when it is hot and humid. It's also cheaper, fresher and just as good as the green papaya salad at my local Thai restaurant.

Bittman says, "Green papaya is just unripe papaya, easy enough to find."

Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp
adapted from "Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express"

Cook a dozen or more medium shrimp in a little vegetable oil. Meanwhile, combine a tablespoon of brown sugar, juice of a lime, a garlic clove, a tablespoon of fish or soy sauce. one-half teaspoon chile flakes (more or less), and some peeled ginger in a blender or food processor and puree. Grate (the food processor is good for this) a peeled and seeded green papaya (not one the size of a football) and two carrots. Toss with shrimp, sliced fresh tomatoes, and dressing; season to taste; and toss with chopped peanuts.


Notes/Results: Tangy, light and very quick to make, this is a delicious salad that is full of great flavor. With the pre-shredded papaya, it took just minutes to put together, always a bonus. For some reason I missed the carrot in the recipe--what I get for not reading more carefully, which would have added some more color, but the multi-colored cherry tomatoes help make up for that. I also tossed in a handful of chopped mixed herbs--cilantro, mint and Thai basil, which added a nice, fresh herbal taste. I will make this one again for sure.

You can check out how the other IHCC participants Beat the Heat by going to the site here and following the links.

Just a couple more days to enter my giveaway for a $75.00 electronic gift certificate to spend on unique artisanal goods at the Novica website. Find the details here.

This is a lovable salad but just in case you were missing it, my semi-regular Tuesday feature the Things I Am Loving This Week post will back next week. ;-)