Shopping the aisles of Costco last week, I was intrigued by a Mexican papaya, green skinned large fruit costing about $3.99. It found its way into my basket. I needed to use this unusual fruit in something!

The papaya is about 10″ in length and about 5″ in diameter. After cutting away the outer skin (it’s very thin and pliable), the papaya was cut in half lengthwise. Then the black seeds were scraped out and discarded.

Cut into 2″ pieces, the papaya was coarsely chopped in the food processor, pulsed on and off about 5 times. Placed in a medium bowl, a small jicama was peeled, coarsely chopped and added to the processor and chopped on and off, again until salsa sized. Added to the bowl with the papaya, 1/4 of a red onion, 1 small jalapeno (seeded), 1 cup cilantro leaves and 1/2 red bell pepper (coarsely cut) was added to the processor. Again, pulsed on and off until chopped, not pureed. To the bowl with papaya and jicama it went.

Tossed gently with juice of 2 limes, 2 tablespoons canola oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar and tasted for seasoning. The salsa should be ready to eat at this stage of the game, a pale pink hue with flecks of red from the bell pepper, green from the cilantro and jalapeno, and the purple of the red onion with a slight crunch from the jicama.

Serve with tortilla chips, on grilled fish, on the side of your favorite quesadilla or on your omelet. Refrigerate up to 3 days. Makes about 3 cups of salsa.

It will wow! your guests since it has a lovely spring pink color palate. And the taste! Mild yet spicy. It will be your go-to salsa for summer.

Ingredients for salsa:

PAPAYA SALSA