Papaya Pineapple Salsa

This isn't from The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, but it's delicious, and I'm going to Taco Club tonight, so I wanted to make it anyway. Taco Club is a fabulous combination of friends, tacos, and way too many Hint of Lime chips. Officially, I'm bringing Ricotta Cake to tonight's gathering, but in case it didn't work out, I wanted a back up plan.

I generally don't like fruit salsas. I prefer mine to be tomato-based and a little spicy, and generally out of a jar or at a Mexican restaurant. The only reason I even tried this recipe was because my coworker Amy was (still is, actually) pregnant, and we decided to bring a treat to work each week that used an ingredient the size of her baby. I was weeks 21- 24 (month five), when the little tyke was papaya sized. We eventually gave up on this project because no one wanted to do anything with cantaloupe, but everyone really enjoyed the salsa.

I'd never really done anything with papayas before, but I eventually found this recipe, and it looked easy enough, so I gave it a go. I have no idea when papaya season is, of if there even is one, but Trader Joe's sells bags of frozen chopped up papayas that defrost within an hour or so. Last time, I used canned pineapple and it worked out well, but this time I picked up some fresh sliced pineapple. You also need to dice a jicama, which is basically a Mexican potato like thing. I thought I'd have to make a special trip somewhere to find them, but they're sold in the produce section of my regular grocery store.

Red onion, a spicy pepper, and some vinegar give the salsa a little bit of a kick, and are a great pairing with the fresh, soft fruit.

Also, this time around I used fresh cilantro from my very own herb garden (which actually just lives in a cute planter next to my kitchen sink), so I was pretty excited about that.

This is a very quick recipe to make, and should be made just a couple of hours before you eat it. It's still fine the next day, but the flavors are definitely best soon after making it.

bag of frozen papaya -- $1.99

fresh pineapple -- $3.29

red onion (with some left over) -- $.92

serrano pepper -- $.02 (I think my clerk rang this up wrong, but whatevs)

chives -- $1.69

jicama -- $1.52 (some left over)

Total Cost of Papaya Pineapple Salsa: $9.43