May 19

May 19 Pea Shoot, Tomato and Quinoa Salad with King Prawns

Everyday, Small Plates and Sides, Suppers, Not So Guilty Pleasures

This beautifully simple salad combines a few ingredients to create a lovely light dish ideal for a weekend lunch with family and friends.

Pea shoots, tomatoes, spring onions and quinoa are mixed with herbs and drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette. Topped with spicy chilli and garlic infused king prawns, this delicious combination will really get your taste buds tingling.

You will need to marinade the prawns for a couple of hours to get the flavour though the shells. Once you have done this, the whole dish can be ready in 20 minutes.

Method

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 mins plus marinading time Cooking time: 20 mins

To make the marinade, mix the garlic, olive oil and chilli flakes together in a small bowl.

Prepare the prawns. If you are using frozen prawns, which can often be the best option, make sure you defrost them completely overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove the heads from the prawns with a sharp knife and dry with kitchen roll. Put the prawns into a bowl and pour over the marinade. Mix gently to make sure all the prawns are coated, then cover and place the bowl in the fridge. Leave to marinade for 2 - 3 hours to allow the flavours to infuse through the prawn shells.

When you are ready to make the salad, weigh out your quinoa and rinse it thoroughly through three changes of water. If you don’t do this, you can end up with a soapy taste to your cooked quinoa.

Return the quinoa to the saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Add a large pinch of salt and bring the water to the boil. Cook for 10 - 12 minutes, until you see the grains start to unfurl like tiny little springs.

Drain the quinoa through a sieve and return it to the pan. Cover the top of the pan with two sheets of kitchen towel and put the lid on tight. Leave to stand with no heat underneath for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half, thinly slice the spring onions and put into a large bowl.

Make the dressing by whisking together the lemon, olive oil and caster sugar with a fork until it is completely combined. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and taste the dressing. Add more salt and pepper if you like until you are happy with the taste and pour over the tomatoes and onions.

Chop herbs. Break the pea shoots up into manageable pieces with your hands. Keep these to one side as otherwise, they will go soggy.

When everything else is ready, heat a large pan until is very hot and add half the prawns. Cook for 4 -5 minutes until the prawns are pink all over and cooked through. Carefully tip them out onto a warm plate and cover with foil. Cook the other half of the prawns.

When the prawns are ready, fluff the quinoa up with a fork. Add the quinoa to the tomatoes and onions in the salad bowl, along with the herbs and pea shoots. Mix gently with a large spoon to bring it all together.

Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Divide the salad the prawns between plates, sprinkle over a few more chilli flakes and serve immediately.

Ingredients

Marinade

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tsp olive oil

Salad

16 large king prawns (fresh or frozen)

200g quinoa

200g baby plum tomatoes

4 spring onions thinly sliced