I had half a papaya left from the other day and needed to find a way to use it. I liked the quinoa salad that I had made so much that I decided to revisit it, while making a few minor changes.

I thought coconut would be a great addition, as well as dried figs. I just looooove their distinctive crunch and thought they would work well with the papaya seeds.

Also, this time, I chose to use millet instead of quinoa and I made a nice bed of arugula to lay everything on.

All good calls! This one was equally good, if not better than the last. On a side note, I find millet to be a lot more satisfying than quinoa when it comes to filling me up. For some reason, quinoa just doesn’t seem to ever get that done. I could eat a whole cup to myself and still feel somewhat unsatisfied… whereas I don’t think I could eat a half cup of millet (well, ok, except maybe for warm cereal, but that, I can never get too much of, so it doesn’t count!)

Ingredients
(serves 3-4)

Millet (this needs to be cold, so you might want to cook it the night before)

  • 1 cup millet
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ tsp salt

Salad

  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • ½ papaya, peeled, seeded and diced (save the seeds!!!)
  • 25g roasted pecans, chopped
  • 25g raw pumpkin seeds
  • 20g unsweetened grated coconut
  • 4-5 dried figs, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 20 mint leaves, chopped
  • 125g arugula leaves

Dressing

  • Seeds form half papaya (keep a few teaspoons to garnish)
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • The juice and zest of ½ lemon
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 1 tbsp liquid honey
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp water
  • Pinch hot pepper flakes

Instructions

  • Rinse millet thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer. Put millet, salt and water in small saucepan and bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer until all water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes then remove lid and fluff with a fork. Allow to cool for a little while then refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
  • Mix all the ingredients of the salad in a large mixing bowl, except arugula. Set aside.
  • In a small food processor, purée all the ingredients of the dressing and mix into reserved salad. Stir to combine.
  • Arrange the arugula leaves in the plates. Lay cold millet on top of arugula, creating a nest for papaya salad. Mound papaya on top of cold millet and garnish with whole papaya seeds if desired.