It’s always a challenge to come up with new things to eat, and new ways to prepare foods. One way I try to mix things up is to pair something that I am not accustomed to eating, with an old standby from childhood. Tonight, that was Papaya and Posole – but it separate dishes.

The Posole Part

As a child, my favorite “vegetable” was hominy, with a slight preference for gold over white. I’ve always made hominy dishes and stews or posole without knowing that’s what it was. Tonight was a cheap but delicious spin on that. One can of golden and one can of white hominy, with the liquid. One can of green chile enchilada sauce and one can of black beans, drained. Three roma tomatoes, diced. For additional seasoning, juice from half a lemon (or lime), cilantro, some blackened spice and some chili powder. Never miss an opportunity to throw in an avocado slice or three.

The Papaya Part

I never saw a papaya as a kid and probably didn’t really know what one was or what it tasted like until my 30s. We just weren’t fruit people. But now I find a variety of fruits delicious and once I went mostly plant-based, my taste buds changed and I could actually taste food in more of a robust way.

Turns out they do have whole papayas at Reasor’s in Tahlequah and that was this week’s “unusual” thing. Papaya chunks, added into a baby spinach salad, with shredded red cabbage and sunflower seeds. It was a great sweet (but not too sweet) contrast to the medium heat of the stew.