Papaya Black Bean Salad

This Papaya Black Bean Salad recipe with cherry tomatoes, cilantro and lime is rich in protein and fiber. It's an easy dinner for a hot end of summer night and just perfect to bring to a party!

Since we are approaching the very last days of summer, I had to squeeze in one more summer-like recipe. Since many parts of the States are still experiencing temps in the 80's, this recipe is great to make this very warm weekend! Another reason we had to share this now is since we have a papaya tree that is enormous! It’s now taller than our house and is actually about 5 trees in one. Right now I have about 20 papayas on it and I'm really not sure how to reach them. But luckily, the first ones we took off the tree were easy to reach and they weighed 2 kilos each! Yes, so much papaya to work with! I’m envisioning some papaya canning and papaya jams in the very near future.

In case you can’t find fresh papaya, you could sub in mango. Either way, this papaya black bean salad would be great! It’s mom’s recipe and something she made on her blog some years ago. She made it with pineapple juice and red pepper. We left out the red pepper and added in instead cherry tomatoes. You could add in small red pepper chunks if you prefer or in addition to the tomatoes.

For the adults, we also added in some of our easy pickled jalapeños on top (so good!!). When mom made this originally she cut the papaya in smaller pieces and called the dish a salsa. We cut our papaya in larger pieces and for us, it’s a salad. It is an easy, quick and healthy end of summer side dish or even main dish! Perfect for parties, busy weeks and a potluck.

This is one of those 2 kilo papayas from our tree! The tree was given as a gift from my Austrian friend who has a very green thumb. It was so small (just about 2 feet high)and it was one tree. Somehow it has grown and expanded into several trees and is overflowing with papayas. Lucky us!

First thing you need to do to make this very easy Papaya Black Bean Salad is to cut open the papaya and cut it into small chunks.

Next, get all the rest of the ingredients together. We used canned black beans, green onions, cherry tomatoes, fresh lime juice, cilantro (you could sub parsley if you hate cilantro), sweet onion (or purple onions).

Finally, gently combine all the ingredients together. If you are bringing to a party, wait to add on the fresh lime juice.

This recipe is best eaten day it is made. You could make a day ahead without adding the fresh lime juice. Once you add the lime juice, be prepared to serve it. It’s really great to bring to a party. It’s very healthy side dish and you could even serve it with tortilla chips.

• Serve on top of grilled chicken, fish or tofu. Really great with these grilled chicken cutlets.
• Add cooked quinoa (gluten-free option) or avocado.
• Would be wonderful to fill lettuce wraps (for low-carb/gluten-free option)or to serve on top of fresh greens.
• Sometimes we make this salad without the black beans and add slices of celery. It gives it a nice additional crunch.
• Fill your favorite wrap or soft shell taco (leave behind the extra juice so it won’t get soggy)for a lovely vegan wrap.

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Papaya Black Bean Salad

This Papaya Black Bean Salad recipe with cherry tomatoes, cilantro and lime is rich in protein and fiber. Easy dinner for a hot end of summer night and just perfect to bring to a party! SO GOOD!

Prep Time10 mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: black beans, papaya, vegan

Author: Lora

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups cooked or canned black beans
• ▢ 2 small or 1 large papayas peeled seeded
• ▢ and diced small
• ▢ 2 cups cherry tomatoes sliced in half lengthwise
• ▢ 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• ▢ 1/2 of medium purple onion diced (or sweet onion)
• ▢ 1/2 cup lime juice I used 2 limes
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Rinse black beans and drain in colander; set aside.
• Layer all your ingredient in a big bowl. Add in the drained black beans (if you are using canned).
• With a fork, squeeze the lime into the bowl and just turn the fork well with one hand and squeeze with the other to get all the juices in there.
• Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro (or parsley). Gently stir it all together and serve. If using low-sodium black beans, check the salt. Add more if needed for your taste. Add on any hot salsa or fresh or canned jalapeño slices to spice it up if you like.
• Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 24 hours.
• Make Ahead: Refrigerate without lime juice and salt for up to 24 hours, and then add before serving.

Notes

I used low sodium black beans, so adjust salt to taste if using regular.

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