Post date: Nov 5, 2013 1:50:36 PM
What shall we do with that huge papaya? The papayas in Nicaragua are enormous. So when we got one last week I wondered what we would ever do with it. On the other hand, when I bought a papaya in the market it was only 80 cents - and probably weighed five pounds! There are no small papayas.
To start, I cut the papaya into disks and peeled it, then cut it mostly into one inch blocks. The seeds fall out easily. This I put into a large (it required large) bowl in the refrigerator. At least it would not spoil immediately, I thought.
Later we were out for a walk in the heat, and Carol noticed a smoothie on the menu. When she ordered the combination of papaya and orange, it was delicious. Aha! A way to consume all that papaya.
Along with the papaya we had purchased half-dozen oranges. So we decided to make our own smoothies. Since we don’t have a juicer (manual or otherwise) but do have an Osterizer, I cut the oranges in half and juiced them by pressing the edge of a spoon into each orange half to break the cells. This also allowed me to easily remove the seeds.
Interestingly, of the three oranges in each batch of smoothie, I think we had three varieties of orange - different numbers and sizes of seeds, different thickness of peel.
I had to press the papaya chunks into the whirling blades of the blender with a large spoon. (The first time we tried we ended with chunks of unblended papaya.)
The result was a tasty, refreshing, cool drink, and a good way to use a large papaya, even if it takes three days to eat it all!
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Addendum: Went shopping today in the market. One vendor offered smaller papayas. They were the same price (80 cents) as the larger ones, but she said that they were 'dulce' - sweet. So I bought one, along with half-dozen oranges. She was also careful to point out that she had two kinds of orange, so I chose the sweeter ones. Wow! What a difference. The papaya has more flavor and the smoothie was great.