An easy low-fat dressing creates a delicious healthy salad in this recipe for Papaya Butter-leaf Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing.
Behind the scenes - Papaya Butter-leaf Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing
This simple Papaya Butter-leaf Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing was perfect with my Hatch Chile Green Chicken Enchiladas! The tangy dressing, soft lettuce, and sweet papaya; topped with a few fresh cilantro leaves and toasted pepitas...a wonderful party in your mouth.
After our weeklong birthday/work trip to Santa Fe New Mexico, we arrived home with some roasted/frozen Hatch chiles. Being all kinds of excited, I've been thinking and dreaming up ways to use them. But tired after our return (delayed again!), I suggested a simple dinner of Perfect Simple Roast Chicken; along with some steamed broccoli. Easy-peasy to do.
No effort at all.
It was exactly as I hoped.
And of course, there are leftovers. With just the two of us at home now, there were plenty of leftovers. My head was already planning ahead to make enchiladas. With my newly found Hatch chiles.
Enchiladas, rice, and refried beans are a pretty common combo; but we are trying to stay on the lighter side of the eating scale, and well, rice and refried beans are not so light. Especially when you add cheese on top! So I thought a nice salad would be appropriate.
Papaya Butter-leaf Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing to the rescue. The dressing, a creamy lime dressing, remains light as I used low-fat mayo. If you use full-fatted mayo, yours won't be as light as mine. But it will be as good. The lime adds a tangy quality that pairs beautifully with the sweet papaya (considered one of the world's healthiest foods BTW); which sat nicely among the soft leaves of the butter-leaf lettuce. Pepitas, the toasted inside of a shelled pumpkin seed, adds a slightly earthy flavor, and the cilantro leaves add an herbal element.
Perfect!
And simple.
The proportions I give are for two people. This recipe can, of course, be easily adjusted to make more dressing; and add more lettuce and papaya. Just times 2 or more 🙂
If you have more butter lettuce than you need, use the tender inner leaves for this salad and keep the larger outer leaves to use in Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
LindySez: I think this salad is wonderful with the addition of some diced avocado, but alas, our market only had avocados that were hard as a rock...so no avocado today. If you make it, and add the heart-healthy avocado, let me know how you loved it! ~ Cheers
Papaya Butter-leaf Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing
Ingredients
- For the Creamy Lime Dressing
- Juice of one juicy lime - about 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch cumin powder about ⅛ teaspoon
- Pinch salt the same as above, or to taste
- For the Rest
- ½ bag butter-leaf lettuce I wash even my bagged lettuce
- ½ of a ripe fresh papaya, seeded, peeled and diced (mango would be good here too)
- 2 teaspoons roasted pepitas if you wanted to use pine nuts, that would work too
- Fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Prepare the Dressing: Squeeze the lime into a large salad bowl; whisk in the mayonnaise, along with the cumin and salt; slowly add the oil and whisk until well combined.
- For the Rest: Add the lettuce to the bowl along with the papaya; toss to coat. Place into individual bowls then top with the pepitas and cilantro leaves.
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