Welcome back food family!
Thank you to all those who voted in my Instagram story. The majority of you thought I should throw out the moldy papaya!
I totally get it. It’s pretty normal to think a fruit has gone bad and no longer safe to eat when we see mold on it because well there’s always some degree of risk when you consume something that has mold on it.
However, allow me to share a little secret… 🤫
If the papaya skin looks pristine and esthetically pleasing, it’s probably not going to be the best papaya you’ve ever had.
The enzymatic changes that go on during the ripening process allow the starches to turn into sugar. What does this all mean? It means that yes, the skin will get moldy but the fruit will be that much sweeter! 😀
The ones we buy at the grocery store are green since they are obviously picked too early to allow them to make it thru the import process. So giving the papaya time to ripen makes perfect sense. Hopefully I’ve changed some minds if not that’s ok. There’s plenty of other delicious fruit to choose from.
As I mentioned before, the key to enjoying this delicious fruit is to just let it fully get ripened. It's a slow process but boy is it worth it! The papaya I used for this recipe sat on my kitchen counter for a little over a week! The skin got pretty moldy which I removed. Be very careful when removing the skin because the papaya can get pretty slippery in your hands while cutting.
So now that we've learned it's okay to eat moldy papayas... 😂 (well the INSIDE ONLY of course! NEVER EAT the moldy skin!!)...how about we make a recipe? Here's a simple and oh so refreshing summer salad! 🥗
Ingredients:
1 medium PAPAYA chopped
2 LIMES juiced
3 tbs FRESH MINT chopped
SALT to taste
*A fully ripened papaya will have some mold on the skin that will get removed during the preparation process.
Instructions:
1-Using a knife carefully cut off the skin and slice the PAPAYA the long way through the middle. Remove the seeds with a spoon. Chop the papaya into large squares. Set aside in a bowl.
2-Squeeze the juice from the LIMES. Pour it over the papaya.
3-Chop the FRESH MINT. Sprinkle over the papaya.
4-Using a spatula or spoon, mix the fruit, lime juice, mint and salt to taste. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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