Papaya Kimchi, Papaya Atchar, Thai Papaya Salad

One Ingredient-Three recipes

Green Papaya ! Now I have this never ending love with this tropical fruit. I love it raw and ripe. See all the info on this fruit here and here. I have tried to make these three different recipes from one green papaya.

First one is the Korean Kimchi:

Kimchi is nothing but fermented vegetable pickles. There is no oil in it so it's virtually fat free and loaded with key vitamins.

Kimchi contains healthy bacteria that aids digestion.

More of the health benefits of Kimchi here

Watch this video on Kimchi.

You can make Kimchi with any vegetables you like. Mostly it's made with Napa Cabbage, Daikon Radish, Cucumbers, Green onions. And I thought why not papaya, as it's a very underrated fruit. This was one good experiment, not only the Kimchi tasted good, but I found a new way to use the green papaya now.

I got the inspiration for Kimchi from here

Mine is a vegetarian kimchi. But traditional kimchi has fish sauce in it. I read it somewhere that do not use the Korean Fish sauce, instead use the Thai fish sauce which can be used in more then one dishes and has more flavor, where as Korean fish sauce is used just for kimchi.

I am using the old (cleaned) pickle jar. Yes I save all the pickle jars to reuse them. (my cheapness prevails). Isn't that another way of recycling!!

Now to the other recipe:

It is called Filipino Atchar, (pickled unripe papaya) sounds like Achaar but it is quite different then Achaar.

I saw this recipe long back on Internet.
This is a sweet pickle with invariably good taste. It could be more tasty with the coconut water vinegar, but it's hard to find here.

Ingredients:

4 cups grated green papaya

1/2 cup coarse salt

1 cup vinegar

2 carrots, thinly sliced

1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)

1 small ginger, cut into strips

5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 onion, thinly sliced

Pickling mixture:1 cup vinegar, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. salt

Directions:
Boil the pickling mixture, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Set aside and let it cool.
Combine grated papaya and salt. Knead together for a few minutes.
Put the papaya in a towel and squeeze out moisture. Soak grated papaya in vinegar overnight. Squeeze out as much vinegar from the papaya.
Combine with the other ingredients. Pack in sterilized jars and pour hot pickling mixture over the vegetables. Let cool at room temperature. Cover jars tightly and refrigerate.

You can add or omit ingredients as per your liking.

Now to the third recipe:

Thai Green Papaya salad also known as Som Tum.
Thai Green Papaya salad is a robust, healthy salad with additions of peanuts, and Thai basil.

Non-vegetarian version has dried shrimp and fish sauce in it.

Watch the video to see the recipe step by step.

I have used Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe.

Again you can add or omit ingredients as per your taste.

I did not put tomatoes, green beans or fish sauce in my salad and I used Serrano chilies

Ingredients

2 cups Green papaya (shredded)

5-6 cloves Garlic

Salt to taste

5-6 Fresh green-red chillies (roughly chopped)

4 Cherry tomatoes (quartered)

2 tbsp Lemon juice

2 tbsp Brown sugar or palm sugar (jaggery) or regular white sugar

1-2 tbsp Fish sauce or anchovy sauce

1 tbsp Tamarind pulp (optional)

2 tbsp Roasted peanuts (crushed)

Peel and halve the papaya. Remove the seeds and grate coarsely. Transfer this into a big bowl and crush lightly with a pestle.Take garlic cloves and salt in a mortar and crush with a pestle. Add four fresh green-red chillies and cherry tomatoes and continue to crush.Add the crushed garlic mixture to the papaya along with lemon juice and mix.Take brown sugar in the mortar along with fish sauce and tamarind pulp and pound lightly with the pestle. Add this mixture to the papaya mixture and mix. Add crushed roasted peanuts and mix.

Peach, Mozzarella, and Basil salad

This is real simple yet flavorful salad for summers. And it's a no fuss recipe with unique flavor.

I got the inspiration from here.

I did not use Fresh Mozzarella, I used the regular Mozzarella cheese and instead of cutting peach into wedges, I just diced them. Watch the salt you put in the salad as the store bought Mozzarella is already salted.

Recipe:

3 ripe peaches (peeled, if desired)

1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Cut each peach into 6 to 8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half crosswise. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, basil, and mozzarella. Drizzle with the oil, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and toss. (You can cover and refrigerate the salad for up to several hours.) Serve cold or at room temperature.

Watermelon-Avocado Salsa

This again is my entry to AFAM-July, if they consider it. It is hosted by Jugalbandi and originated by Maheshwari of Beyond the Usual

Here is to your rescue my blogger friend Asha of Foodie's hope. Another recipe for watermelon.

I saw this recipe couple of years ago on Food Network. And suddenly remembered that I had the recipe.

So here it is. Ashaji I hope you will like it. And since you are a

non-vegetarian, let me mention that the recipe was along with the Tuna Tacos.

Recipe:

4 people approximately.

1 cup cubed seedless watermelon

1/2 cup cubed ripe avocado

1/2 cup chopped red onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup chopped parsley leaves

1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/3 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon finely chopped Serrano pepper

1 teaspoon finely minced jalapeno pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 ounces premium tequila (optional)

Combine the watermelon, avocado, red onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, lime, peppers, salt, pepper, oil, and tequila in a medium-sized bowl.

Toss all ingredients together gently. Let it stand for 30 minutes.

I served it in the avocado shell.

I did not use garlic, parsley, Serrano pepper and tequila. I did all the ingredients.

You can omit parsley and Jalapeno pepper works just fine.

Tequila!! left to your own discretion.

Pickled Watermelon Scallion Salad

This is going to the A Fruit A Month (AFAM) - July, hosted by Jugalbandi and originated by Maheshwari of Beyond the usual.

I know this is too late but I am sending this any way. Well the inspiration for the recipe came from here.

I made the recipe with few changes.

I used the regular vinegar as I did not have rice wine vinegar.
And I did not use Mirin, I think red wine would work just well.
I did not use the red wine either

And I also did not use the toasted sesame oil, as the flavor is too intense, I don't like it.
I used the olive oil instead, you can use the regular sesame oil, I think that would work too.
All the other ingredients are the same.

Chickpea and Corn salad

This is an all time favorite salad in my home. Not only is the salad healthy, it is very simple to make also.

You will need:

1 can chickpeas or ( 1 cup boiled chickpeas)

1/2 can of corn (1 cup corn if using frozen or fresh)

1/4 cup of fresh cilantro chopped

1/2 cup chopped cucumber (optional)

1 tsp minced jalapeno

1/2 cup chopped green onions (scallions)

salt to taste

1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice

Whisk olive oil and lime/lemon juice together, add salt and mix well. Now add rest of the ingredients and adjust seasonings. You can use chili powder and black pepper for a different kind of heat in the salad. You can serve it at room temperature or serve cold. Tastes equally good.

Enjoy!

Salads and breads

Do you ever have that craving for fresh baked bread?

And not just plain bread, I wanted tons of garlic and fresh herbs flavor in it.

So I looked for the recipe and made this delicious focaccia bread. Not only does it tastes heavenly but when you bake it the smell in your kitchen can't be more divine than this.

(sorry, those who doesn't eat onions and garlic)!

Below is the recipe

I used 3 cups of plain flour, 1 tbsp instant yeast (it is much better as you can skip the proofing process) 1-1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1tbsp chopped garlic, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp fresh rosemary 1 tbps coarse black pepper, 1 cup water, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese, (you can use Romano if you prefer).

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, half of the chopped garlic , oregano, thyme, rosemary and black pepper. Mix in the olive oil and water. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with the remaining galic parmesan/romano cheese .

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Have you ever wondered that salads can be a complete meal too. I know some people still think salad is boring cucumber, tomato, onion, lettuce mixture. But if you explore this culinary side, you will be amazed how simple it is to whip up a salad with unusual ingredients and how scrumptious it can be. I made two salads this week, both are my personal favorite. And the other thing I do is I make my own salad dressings. Don't be fooled by the bottled ready made dressings. You don't know how many calories you consume with each tablespoon. And the home made also taste better.

The first salad is a very refreshing one.

Corn and Black bean salad.

I used one can of corn kernels, 1 can of black beans, 2 medium tomatoes chopped (I prefer Roma tomatoes) 1/2 cup chopped scallions (green onions), (you can use red onions too, to make it more colorful and for different taste) 1/2 cup chopped cucumber, 1 small green pepper chopped, 1 jalapeno chopped (you can use more depending on the heat you want in the salad), 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, juice of half lime or lemon, (lime is more refreshing) 1 tsp of cumin powder, 1/2 tsp of chile powder, salt to taste.

Mix the ingredients in the order they are and serve at room temperature.

What I did was I served the salad on the romain lettuce leaves, it looks exotic.

This is the other salad I was talking about.

It has an unusual combination of red radishes and apples with sour cream.

I have just followed Rachael Ray's recipe, except that I omitted the lettuce part, I just wanted to taste the combination of radish and apples. But you can add lettuce, as I have also mentioned in the recipe. And if you are like me I don't like the red wine vinegar taste with sour ceam so I used lemon juice instead. I used dried dill instead of fresh dill.

10 radishes, thinly sliced 2 Red Delicious apples, cored, seeded and thinly sliced and tossed with 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 1 head romaine lettuce or red leaf lettuce, chopped
Dill and Poppy Dressing: 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon poppy seeds 2 tablespoons chopped dill or 2 teaspoons dried dill
Combine radish, apple (coated in lemon to retard browning) and onion with chopped lettuce. In a small bowl, combine vinegar with sugar and salt. Whisk in oil, stir in sour cream, poppy and dill. Drizzle dressing evenly over salad and serve.