I was watching Diners Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network and I watched a man prepare a Thai Papaya Salad. I thought it was interesting that he used Tamarind Water and he also used whole lime with skin. I planned to make Papaya Salad similar to what I saw on TV but I had some bad luck. The papaya I purchased was rotten inside and my peanuts that I purchased this year from my local supermarket expired two years ago and did indeed taste spoiled. I wanted to make the salad before I forgot what I saw so I made a few substitutions and came up with a Spaghetti Squash Salad with similar flavors. I made this salad Vegetarian Style without the fish sauce or other added meats this salad might contain like shrimp or crab. While Spaghetti Squash is not an authentic ingredient the Spaghetti squash has a similar texture to fresh shredded papaya. Thai papaya salads are usually served with sticky rice and maybe an entree like Larb.

Ingredients for about 2 servings

1 cup cooked spaghetti squash

4 green beans – ends snipped off and cut in 3/4 inch diagonals ( or a long bean…long beans are authentic)

2 Thai Chili peppers – minced

1 garlic clove (a large one) – minced

1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar – or to taste ( palm sugar is the authentic ingredient one or use any brown sugar) – (you might need salad slightly sweeter)

1 Tablespoon chopped lime with skin (or one key lime)

1 teaspoon tamarind

5 grape tomatoes – cut in half

2 Tablespoons peanuts  – crushed up a little but not too much – I cheated and used coconut butter toffy peanuts because my regular peanuts were spoiled…..but it tasted great!

2 sprigs cilantro

Directions

In your mortar and pestle  add the garlic, chili, sugar, lime, tamarind and muddle. Then add the green beans and muddle. You don’t want to break the green beans too much…..just bust them up a little to get the flavors into them..

To a medium to small bowl add the spaghetti squash, tomatoes and the contents of the mortar. Mix well.

Top with peanuts and cilantro.

Serve!

You can add a little fish sauce to make the taste more authentic. Tasty and different with really bright flavors…I finished with a little bit of fresh cilantro.