I made this salad for a potluck on Saturday and quickly grabbed some pictures before I packed it “to go”! The dominant ingredient is ripe luscious papaya. Team it with some beans, spring onion, cherry tomatoes, peppers, fresh mint, cilantro and you have a picture perfect salad that is easy on the eye. Toss this together with some zesty Italian Dressing and you have a flavorful salad that will woo you away. This is easily one of my favorite salads and I love it 
Nutrition Wise !
Just a note about three bean salads. The reason these are nutritionally popular is because each bean has its own specific nutrient especially in terms of amino acids and bringing them together give you a veritable bean powerhouse! Beans are chock-full of antioxidants and bursting with fiber.. sooo good for you! Bring on the beans!! When using canned beans just remember to rinse, rinse & rinse again. This takes away most of the flatulence-producing stuff and the excess sodium. You can use fresh beans. Just soak them overnight and cook them a little before adding to the salad.
A note about papaya: High in vitamin A , it also has a special enzyme called papain that is the perfect digestive enzyme. It soothes the tummy and aids in digestion. My first blog post ever was about a natural meat tenderizer using green papaya.
Home- made Zesty Italian Dressing :
Combine 1 cup vinegar + 1&1/2 cups olive oil + 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 3 pods fresh garlic (crushed) + 1/2 tsp onion powder or 2 tsps onion paste +1/2 tsp pepper + 1/2 tsp chilli flakes + 1/2 tsp dried parsley + 1/ 2 tsp salt
Papaya Three Bean Salad
Print recipe
| Serves | 10-12 |
| Dietary | Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold |
Ingredients
- 4 cups Ripe papaya (chunks)
- 1 cup Black beans canned (rinsed)
- 1 cup Black eyed peas canned (rinsed)
- 1 cup navy beans canned (rinsed)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes or red tomato (halved or sliced)
- 1 cup spring onion (chopped)
- 1 Green pepper (chopped)
- 1 Yellow or orange pepper (chopped)
- 1/2 cup cilantro (finely chopped)
- 1/2 cup mint (finely chopped)
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
Note
You can use any combo of beans. If your'e using fresh beans, soak them overnight and cook them before adding to bean salad.
Directions
| Prep all veggies and fruits | |
| Toss together with chopped mint, cilantro and zesty italian dressing. | |
| Refrigerate an hour pr more to let flavors mingle | |
| Enjoy !!!!! | |
If you like papaya check out my soothing papaya ginger smoothie !!
Click on a picture to view a slide show 🙂
Hi there! I’m Sunithi, AKA Sue, a registered dietitian with a sweet tooth and a passion for eating healthy (quite a combo) currently working as an independent consultant in the DC Metro area. I’m also a blogger, health nut, nutrition geek who jogs to keep sane :)! I love to revamp recipes and add some ‘Nutrition Bytes’ to them. All my recipes are gluten free! I also blog on natural health and fitness! Visit often and drop me a note if you have any nutrition queries!
Wow! This salad looks so beautiful and delicious! I used to be able to eat beans, then I turned 40 – LOL! My family is a big fan of papaya. Great salad!
love papaya, so this will be a hot fav on my list ! Lovely pics .
Good point on the three bean salads. Great looking salad ! love the way you make me want to eat off your page literally 🙂 Will be making this since am a huge fan of papayas as well
cherry tomatoes and papaya are really delicious. I love both the most in this salad 😀
and both also rise my appetite due to their red color 🙂
This looks SO good! Love to discover new variations of bean salad.
Thanks ! Loved your GF crepes too. Am linking that to MY GF board !
love this never hardly use papaya and great idea to mix in a bean salad bet the folks at the party loved it 😉
Yep ! was a god side to the BBQ party ! I love that fruit. Thinking of trying a soup with it next 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Rebecca 🙂
Gorgeous mix of colors and an inventive mix of flavors, too! Would not have thought to combine papaya, beans, mint, and cilantro but I can see how it would be delish!
It’s one of our favorite summer salads. Make it winter too, but don’t get great papayas so I substitute the papaya for ripe mango !