I like bananas. I know that mangos are sweet. I like papayas, PAPAYAS!…but what about green papayas? Sure most people know what a papaya is and some of us (myself for sure) think that sometimes they smell like a dirty diaper. It’s a tropical fruit that makes a smoothie ingredient list look real good. You can eat it fresh, freeze it, blend it, I’m sure you can even bake with it. But I’m not here to talk about the fruit. I want to talk about the vegetable version.
WHAT? There’s a vegetable papaya?
You bet there is. A vegetable version of papaya is simply the fruit at its unripe stage. Before the papaya gets its golden yellow color it is green most of its life and for me that’s the best time to eat it.
Now, I’m from Oklahoma, so my cooking knowledge dealing with tropical produce was pretty limited before I came to h.e.a.r.t. However, I didn’t really have a choice in the matter of learning how to use green papaya. You see, we grow it here in our gardens and I am all about trying to use as much of our own stuff as possible so I had to learn. Boy did I fall in love with it! You can make green papaya curry, throw it in practically any soup, stir-fry it, bake it, add it to mashed potatoes, shred it and use it as a pasta substitute, and so much more! One of my most recent dishes has been my favorite thus far.
For our students’ Celebration of Community I prepared a huge pan of cooked greens and veggies that consisted of: sweet potato greens, chaya, mustard greens, Ethiopian kale, bok choy, and shredded pumpkin, sweet potato, and green papaya. The only ingredients not from our garden were the sweet potatoes and pumpkin. It was a dish packed, and I mean packed with nutrition that also delivered just as much satisfaction for your tastebuds. If you want to try it just cook all the greens down together and sauté with whatever you fancy (I used a little coconut cream, teriyaki, garlic, ginger, sugar, orange mojo, and a few other spices). After you cook those down transfer to a dish then cook all the shredded veggies (you can use a cheese grater) together with a little bit of the same seasonings until they are thoroughly cooked but not mushy. Then mix everything together and enjoy!
This is only the beginning on how much I am now a green papaya lover and advocate. As cheesy as it sounds it is nutritious and delicious! Loaded with great enzymes, vitamins, and nutrients you can’t go wrong. But what if you don’t grow it? Well if you live close by us you can give us a call and get some while we still have them. For the rest of you the best bet is an Asian market. Be adventurous and dive into the wonderful world of green papaya. You wont regret it.
Post by Ashley Carter