Papaya and Red Onion Relish

We all have those “what’s for dinner?” nights when we open the almost-bare fridge, make a mental note to do groceries after work the next day.  On closing the door, we still have no idea what to make for dinner.  We might go through this three or four times, hoping that a miraculous food elf will stock the fridge with the ingredients needed for a delicious dinner if we just keep opening and closing the fridge.

Although I plan our dinner menu for the week every Sunday, we sometimes deviate from the plan.  Sometimes I’ll plan my main ingredient so the whiteboard will read tofu, salmon or grill something as though I have left myself a hint, but not a complete plan.

Tonight was one of those night.  The only thing my kitchen whiteboard had to say was  portobellos.  The rest was up to me.  The magical fridge elves were late, but the third round of my door opening sequence, I saw that I had half a papaya waiting to discover it’s purpose.  With salmon in the freezer, dukkah in the pantry, and half a red onion in the door of the fridge, I figured I could definitely throw something together.

I knew a warm fruity condiment would be delicious inside the portobello tops my whiteboard wanted for dinner, but until I turned to my foodie friends on Twitter, I wasn’t even sure what to call this dish.

@ysilver yes. Things are more blurred now, but chutneys tend to include more acid than sweeter relishes

— Simon Majumdar (@SimonMajumdar) April 25, 2013

Now, this is one of those blog posts that I didn’t plan or anticipate – so the photos are from my iPhone and not my camera so forgive me for the quality.  Once you make this papaya and red onion condiment, you’ll understand why it had to become a post.  Besides, a wise woman taught me “No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize”.

Papaya and Red Onion Relish

Once the relish was cooked, I spooned it into portobello mushroom tops and served it with homemade baked french fries and my dukkah crusted salmon.