Mexican Papaya Salad With Strawberries And Poppy Seed Dressing - Raw Vegan And Gluten Free, It's Time To Increase Raw Food Intake For Spring!

Mexican papaya with strawberries.

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It's Spring - Time to Increase Raw Food Intake
I'm not a proponent of a 100% raw food diet, but I do believe having adequate amounts of raw food in your diet is extremely important for good health. In the winter, we crave warm, cooked foods but I still try to eat at least a third of my food raw. Now that spring is here (I realize some of you are still getting some nasty weather but hang in there, it will come soon!), it's time to up our intake of raw food. I aim for about 50% in the spring.

Raw foods are rich in phytochemicals, many of which are destroyed by cooking (except for some carotenoids). Vitamin C and essential fatty acids are also heat sensitive and are better consumed in raw foods. And although there is some debate as to the significance of their contribution to human digestion, raw foods are alive and rich with enzymes.

Fruit Salads
Salads made with fruits, nuts and seeds are a great way to add raw food to the diet. They can be part of any meal or enjoyed as a dessert. Today I'm making a Mexican papaya salad with a few strawberries tossed in a simple poppy seed dressing. This recipe is suitable for a Raw Food Cleanse.

Mexican papaya are a deeper orange than the ones we get from Hawaii and can be much larger. Besides being a very good source of vitamin C, vitamin A and folate and other vitamins and minerals, they contain papain, an enzyme that aids in digestion. Papaya is also high in dietary fiber. 
And don't throw out the seeds - they make a nice, peppery salad dressing. Check out Raw Fruit and Greens with Papaya Seed Dressings and 10 Interesting Things to Know about Papaya.

Mexican papaya
One cup provides:
only 55 calories
144% DV of vitamin C
31% DV of vitamin A
2.5 g dietary fiber

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Mexican papaya salad with strawberries in a poppy seed dressing
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 4 servings]

4 cups diced papaya (peeled and seeds removed)
4 large strawberries, tops removed and sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Place papaya and strawberries in a medium size bowl.

In a small bowl or cup, mix together the lime juice, agave nectar and poppy seeds until well incorporated.

Pour over the fruit and toss gently until combined. Serve immediately.

Per serving: 78 calories, 0.5 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 48 g omega-3 and 128 g omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber and 5 mg of sodium.

Mango Poppy Seed Dressing With Coconut Milk And Hemp Oil - Vegan, Mostly Raw And Gluten Free

This salad dressing's beautiful color is enhanced by a secret ingredient!

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New Products
Today's recipe uses 2 products that I recently discovered. One is So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage (the one found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store - not in a can) and Living Harvest Organic Hemp Oil. I've enjoyed products from both of these companies in the past so I was excited to try these.

This creamy beverage has only 80 calories per cup.
The unsweetened version has only 50 calories.
Both contain MCFAs - medium-chain fatty acids.

Hemp oil has a perfect balance of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. 
Living Harvest hemp oil is cold pressed and made with raw hemp seeds.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention
So why did I need these products just to make a salad dressing? Let me share the nutritional adventure that lead to this.


I love poppy seeds but like many nuts and seeds, they are high in omega-6 and have very little omega-3. In fact they have a 100:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 which is far from the optimal ratio of 4:1 or less. So I needed something to balance that out. Flaxseed oil would be a natural thought with its very high content of omega-3 but this cold pressed hemp oil has a fresh, nutty taste and makes a better salad dressing. Extra virgin olive oil always makes a good salad dressing but doesn't provide as much omega-3. Each tablespoon of hemp oil contains 2.3 grams of ALA omega-3 in a 3.7:1 ratio with omega-6. As an alternative, you can also mix 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. 


My next goal was to reduce the oil - the main ingredient of most salad dressings. Even though hemp oil has beneficial qualities, I wanted to limit the calories. In searching for something that would provide a creamy taste and thicken the dressing, I decided to try So Delicious Coconut Milk beverage. I've never been a big fan of recipes that contain tropical oils and their saturated fats, but this beverage is not that high in fat. And the fats it does contain are MCFAs (medium chain fatty acids) which some claim raise your metabolism and are more likely to be burned as fuel than to be stored as fat. 
From a pure pleasure standpoint,  I've got to say it's one of the best tasting non-dairy milks I've ever had. Besides this dressing, I've been using it in my smoothies and over cereal. Good stuff!


The Color Brought to you by ......
Even though mangos are orange, by the time you water them down with oil and coconut milk, the color isn't very intense. So I added a grated carrot! Not only does it make the dressing a beautiful color, but it spikes the dressing with vitamin A providing over 200 IU per tablespoon.


 Mango Poppy Seed Dressing
Mostly Raw, Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 1 3/4 cups = 28 tablespoons]


1 medjool date, pitted and cut in quarters
1/2 cup So Delicious coconut milk beverage
1 cup mashed, ripe mango or mango pulp
1/3 cup shredded carrot
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt,
pinch black pepper
1/4 cup raw hemp oil (or 3T EVOO + 1T flaxseed oil)
1 tablespoon poppy seeds


Soak medjool date in coconut milk for 4 hours or overnight in refrigerator.


Place date, coconut milk, mango, carrot, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper in a high speed blender and process until smooth.


Running the blender on low, slowly drizzle in hemp oil until combined.


Add poppy seeds for a few seconds to combine. Store in a 1 pint container and refrigerate.


Per tablespoon: 27.9 calories, 2.2 g fat, 0.3 g saturated fat, 329 mg ALA omega-3 and 1303 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 g cholesterol, 0.1 g protein, 1.8 g carbohydrates, 0.3 g dietary fiber and 24.5 mg sodium.