Avocado and Papaya Salad - I Laugh at Winter!

So, I made my 50k for NaNoWriMo, which means I will actually have time to cook food and blog about it.

And, because it's about time things started working right, I have gotten my baby digital camera to talk to the laptop, so pictures should ensue.

Later - Well, that was a bust. I'm going to have to drag a lamp into the kitchen or something. The fluorescent lights above frosty panels just don't give enough illumination for photography, and my flash pics have hot spots. Did I ever tell you I once made money selling my photographs in small galleries? Of course, that was 35mm. Different beast altogether.

With the hope that I will iron this out in the near future, I'm starting off with something simple but colorful - a salad of avocado and papaya slices with pomegranate seeds for an accent. Although this would be tasty with a variety of dressings, I'm going with a honey-based vinaigrette, a la Poppy Seed Dressing, but without the poppy seeds...and without the honey - I like corn syrup better, less likelihood of allergies.

I like the idea of avocado and papaya together for a couple of reasons. One being that their colors, though both soft, contrast nicely. Their flavors are also mild, but where the avocado is creamy, the papaya has a sweet perfume - nice together, but they need something to set them off. Pomegranates are in season, so I threw on a few bright, jewel-like red seeds for the contrast, some fresh ground pepper - I like Szechuan for zip - and it's beautiful and delish, too. I fanned the slices out into a ring, alternating colors, and mounded some pomegranate in the middle, with a few sprinkled on the plate, too. That's like taunting you, isn't it? It's delicious, never mind how it looks. :G:

Riffing
If you left out the pomegranate, this would be superb sprinkled with a crumbled veined cheese, like Gorgonzola or Roquefort. The extreme saltiness of the cheese would make the sweet papaya zing and meld beautifully with the creamy avocado. A good grinding of black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of a fairly light vinegar of your choice, and this salad takes on a whole different character.
{tags avocado papaya pomegranate gorgonzola corn syrup }