Thai-style chayote salad

When I went on hiatus over the start of the new year I promised a new green papaya salad when I returned. Well, here it is. I've said before that I haven't located a place to get green papaya here in DC. But I substitute chayote squash (pictured above) and it's pretty much exactly the same result.
The dressing for the salad pretty much consumed my fish sauce, my plain old canola oil, a large jalapeno (seeded and chopped, thank you very much), and lime juice. All in all it tastes darn good. This is really good, if you're of a mind to want it.


Thai-style chayote salad
2 chayote squash
½ small onion, very finely diced
1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 medium tomato, finely diced
3 Tbs fish sauce (nam pla)
2 Tbs canola oil (or other neutral oil)
1 ½ Tbs chili/garlic sauce
2 large cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
for garnish: chopped peanuts or roasted sunflower seeds
Peel the squash (there's some craggy part you'll need to deal with). Cut it in half and clean it up a bit more with your peeler. Use a grapefruit spoon to scrape out the center portion and then julienne them using your mandoline. Toss in a big bowl with the onion, jalapeno and tomato.
Mix the dressing in a separate bowl, then toss it all together. Top with the nuts when serving. It's good to let this steep in the fridge for a while.