With this delicious luscious Papaya Salad Boat, your long weekend will be even better!
Happy Long Weekend Folks!
Indeed, we’re going to have a short week due to Canada day on Friday, while our American friends will be enjoying a short week thanks to the 4th of July next Monday. What a fantastic coincidence, eh?
I am not planning anything special during my long weekend – just rest, some cooking, some walking, and definitely a lot of napping. Indeed, I do need some rest because our last weekend was a blast!
News
To start with, there’s some news. Andrey is starting his University program – yup, once again he’s a student. The most interesting part is that his University is located not in Toronto and not even in Ontario…but in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
But don’t get it twisted – he didn’t want to escape from me. He has just been dreaming of the Atlantic Provinces. In fact, we’ve been thinking of leaving Toronto sooner or later (The way too big and hectic city to us), so it might (or might not) be the first step.
As the matter of fact, this Monday his English course started so he left on Saturday. Not exactly, though.
Some time ago Andrey suggested me to take a few days off and go with him, but unfortunately, I wouldn’t have been able to have a vacation exactly that time. So we didn’t talk about that. Until the week before when all of a sudden he mentioned that I still could go with him on Saturday and return on Sunday. Surprisingly, I didn’t hesitate!
Charming Halifax
Yes, these kinds of trips are a bit strenuous, but it turned out great, though. Besides, since I don’t drive, I was just a passenger entertaining the driver (Almost no napping this time! Swear!)
Well, should I mention the distance between Toronto and Halifax is about 1700 kilometers? Sounds fascinating, right? Sure, we divided the trip into two days having crossed Ontario and Quebec (10 hours of driving) the first day, with a night stay in New Brunswick, and having traveled through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (7 hours of driving) during the second day. Then add a two-hour flight to Toronto and commute to home.
We managed to be in Halifax quite early, so we still had a few hours before my flight. I can say that even 3 hours were enough to fell in love with this enchanting city! That was kind of introduction because in July I am having a longer stay, and I look forward to my upcoming vacation! Did I also mention that Nova Scotia is famous for its seafood restaurants, and I look forward to trying some great local food too?
Papaya Salad Boat – perfect summer meal!
Talking about food, this trip was a bit exhausting so I am not really thinking about this aspect these days. I am gladly having some toasted bread with olive oil and tomatoes on the side – perfect summer meal after work. Definitely, I wouldn’t have made this Papaya Salad Boat this week although it’s not hard to make.
I think it’s just the perfect salad idea. Papaya, shrimp, avocado, and mini-mozzarella combined and placed in a papaya boat! As for the dressing, I opted for the simple mixture of chocolate mint, lime, and olive oil – kind of Mojito! Dress up the boat with some edible flowers, and you’ll get a very fancy sexy meal.
By the way, at first I was planning on making two individual “boats”; however, we found a beautiful (but so big) papaya that we only need a half for two of us. Go ahead and make the individual Papaya Salad Boats.
That’s all up to you. Except the flowers. They’re a must:)
How was your weekend folks? What’s your plans for this long weekend?
Notes
havocinthekitchen
Ingredients
- 1/2 large papaya or one whole, smaller ( cut in half lengthwise and remove the seeds)
- 1,5 cups cooked coctail shrimp
- 1 large avocado, peeled and pitted
- 5-6 balls mini mozzarella
- handful of arugula
- edible flowers
- 10-12 chocolate leaves mint
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Prepare the shrimp as recommended on package.
- Accurately make a few papaya balls with a watermelon (or melon) scoop papaya flesh leaving quite a thick boarder.
- With the same spoon scoop out the avocado (With the unused flesh you can make an avocado toast).
- In a mortar stir in the mint, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and maple syrup.
- Mix together the shrimp,papaya and avocado balls, mozzarella, arugula, and edible flowers. Stuff the papaya with this mixture. Drizzle with the dressing. Chill for a bit in the fridge and serve.
- Enjoy!
Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
First congrats to Andrey for starting his University program! That sound like it was quite the road trip though. Speaking of seafood, this papaya boat looks wonderful. While I love mango, papaya is numb one in my book! I like how you used maple syrup in this, sounds interesting. This is just so beautiful Ben. While I’ve never been to Nova Scotia, or Toronto, it sure looks beautiful for the pics, thanks for sharing.
Happy Canada day to you, Ben. Hope you are enjoying the long weekend. You have me at papaya salad boat. Love how pretty and summer-y it looks. Indeed this stunning salad boat is a perfect summer meal. And that dressing is driving me crazy, so I am surely up for this fancy sexy meal. PS: I am in love with all those beautiful photos. Have a great weekend. :)
Anu – My Ginger Garlic Kitchen recently posted…No-Bake Zebra Cheesecake [Gluten-free]| Video Recipe
Haha thanks, Anu! I really am enjoying Canada day being inside while it’s insanely downpouring outside:)
I’ve heard amazing things about Nova Scotia. One of my curling buddies is from an area not far from Nova Scotia, and he talks about how great it is. Of course, I think they also eat moose there. So take that for what it’s worth! I’d be much happier settling down to one of these papaya boats…what a fun idea! I’m sad to hear that your better half is now hours and hours away, but the silver lining is that you get a nice quiet weekend at home now. Enjoy the long weekend…and eat lots of lavender, ok? :-)
David @ Spiced recently posted…No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie
David, it seems that every city I’ve mentioned (like Kingston) is associated with curling, haha. Seriously, you should consider a trip to Canada to see the most remarkable curling places. Well, and maybe some lavender spots:)