Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp

Okay, how do I tell you how great I think this salad is? I first had a green papaya salad while traveling in Thailand about eight or nine years ago and haven't seen it since, but that flavor memory has stuck with me all those years.

So when I came across a green papaya in my local asian market this week, I jumped at the chance to make this salad! The dressing is a tasty combination of salty, sour, and sweet with nice crunchiness and texture from the papaya, fried shallots and crushed peanuts. Plus the addition of shrimp makes it filling enough to serve as a light meal.

I did skip the carrot, substituted in cilantro for the basil, and added some really finely chopped dried shrimp to the dressing (because I had them on hand and several other recipes I looked at included them.)