13 coconut salad recipes

Lemon Pasta Salad with Peppercorn-Coconut Glaze recipe

A modern Asian twist brings this pasta salad to new heights. Udon noodles with crunchy snow peas glazed with a lemon-pepper coconut dressing and bursting with fresh basil and cilantro.

Crisp mixed greens tossed with red grapes, walnuts, celery, shredded coconut, and mandarin oranges. A quick 10-minute side salad with sweet, crunchy, tropical flair.

A vibrant and delicious salad made with dried figs, fresh pineapple and mandarin oranges.

Peaches and cream rice salad with chicken-flavored rice pilaf, diced peaches, whipped topping, and shredded coconut. A sweet, creamy side dish or potluck dessert salad that feeds a crowd.

A retro molded fruit salad of pineapple, coconut, and walnuts set in gelatin, served with sweet pineapple-poached figs. A vintage luncheon centerpiece alongside cold chicken, turkey, or pork.

Hawaiian chicken salad with curried sour cream, chutney, toasted coconut, and ginger, served in cantaloupe halves or over shredded lettuce.

Gourmet roast chicken salad with yogurt-curry dressing, Belgian endive, papaya, toasted coconut, and baby greens. A restaurant-style composed salad from a simple roast chicken.

Ayam Kacang Bukittingga is a Sumatran peanut chicken braised in coconut milk with a fragrant spice paste of red chiles, ginger, turmeric, and garlic. Rich, nutty, and deeply aromatic.

Delicious Pan-fried fillet of seabass on grilled asparagus with mustard seed, mango and toasted coconut salad, served with a glass of Nobilo Regional Collection Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, £8.49 from Asda, Thresher, Morrison's, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco

The health benefits of green papaya exceed those of the ripe variety. Raw green papaya is packed with vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients. It contains vital nutrients including potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, E and B. However, perhaps the most important health property of green papaya is its ability to improve digestion and the uptake of nutrients, raising enzyme levels and improving assimilation, and thus also strengthening the immune system. Green papaya contains two of the most powerful plant proteolytic enzymes: papain and chymopapain. These enzymes excel at breaking down proteins, fats and carbohydrates, as well as aiding healthy digestion. Papain can only be found in the papaya fruit and is more effective than pepsin produced by our own stomachs.

Creamy ambrosia fruit salad with mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, coconut, mini marshmallows, and sour cream. A no-cook, make-ahead holiday side dish.

Classic fruit salad with oranges, apples, and pineapple tossed in a warm brown sugar glaze and topped with coconut. Simple, refreshing, and perfect for brunch.