Week 26: Papaya Seeds

It’s already week 26, which means we’re halfway through the year and halfway through the 52 kitchen adventures! This year has flown by for me and I can’t believe it’s already summer. Is it just me or are you surprised that we’re halfway through 2010?

To commemorate the halfway point, I’m excited to share that I launched 52KitchenAdventures.com! If you type in the old address, it should redirect you to the new one. The look is the same for now but it is no longer hosted by WordPress, giving me more freedom. I’m working on a new look for the site and hope to have it up and running soon. Let me know if any links aren’t working for you.

This week, I decided to explore papaya. Now, you’re probably thinking, “Papaya? That’s not unusual,” as Russ was quick to point out when he heard. But we’re not using the flesh here – we’re using the seeds! Did you know that papaya seeds are edible? Interestingly, the seeds are often treated like peppercorns, which is exactly what they look like. They have a fairly mild peppery taste and can be eaten along with the flesh of the fruit to enhance its taste. The seeds contain an enzyme that break down protein, so you can also use them to tenderize meat.

I pureed the seeds along with fresh lemon juice and a few other ingredients to make a refreshing salad dressing. The little black flecks you see are the papaya seeds (I think it would be nearly impossible to completely puree them). By blending the salad dressing for a few extra minutes in the food processor, it thickened up quite a bit.

To compliment the refreshing papaya seed dressing, I created a summer salad with greens, papaya chunks, cherry tomatoes, blackberries, bell pepper and avocados. It was the perfect start to a light summer dinner.

Papaya Seed Lemon Dressing

• 2 T papaya seeds
• 3 T unseasoned, unsweetened rice vinegar
• 3 T lemon juice
• 2 T honey
• 1/2 t salt
• 2/3 C olive oil

Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blend until well combined and seeds are crushed into small pieces. Slowly add in olive oil and blend until dressing is smooth and has thickened.