Forget the days of a supermarket pot of chopped up bits of apple, pineapple, melon and – if you’re lucky – a few bonus grapes: fruit salads just got sexy. This papaya-based beauty is a satisfying and succulent start to any morning or is a great mid-afternoon ‘pick me up’. The tropical, melon-like taste of the papaya mixed with the fruit and honey also makes this a delicious but guilt-free dessert to kick-off your weekend.
The main ingredient, papaya, is so packed with nutrients and powerful enzymes, it’s worthy of the title ‘super hero’. It contains the digestive enzymes papain, chymopapain and caricain, all considered gut warriors for people suffering from poor digestion or irritable bowel syndrome. Papain is also great for those intolerant to gluten and dairy, as it helps break down these proteins, and useful for those who want to start eliminating these two from their diet but aren’t quite ready to fully give them up yet.
It doesn’t have to simply be resigned to your fruit salad bowl: another great use for papaya is to wrap the skin around red meat for a few hours. It tenderises the meat and the enzymes from the papaya will help your body digest the meat more effectively.
So aside from helping to build up your body’s defence system or combat any digestive issues (as if that weren’t enough), this power-packed fruit also tastes delicious – so why not give this oh-so-simple recipe go?
Papaya Fruit Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:
30g chia seeds
375ml filtered water or almond milk
250g papaya
2 handful of raspberries
2 handful of blueberries
1 handful of sunflower seeds
1 handful of pumpkin seeds
1 handful of desiccated coconut
2 tbsp of raw honey
Instructions:
1. Pour water/almond milk over the chia seeds. Add a tablespoon of raw honey and stir. Leave overnight.
2. In the morning, add the fruit, nuts, seeds and coconut with ½ tbsp of raw honey. Enjoy!
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