Tomato Salad with Garlic Prawns

Ten Minute Suppers:

I have a passion for real food.  While there are some dishes which DO take time, there are also some real easy win things I make for myself when I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen.  They don’t involve opening a ready meal box though I do have my own set of cheats which I will share when they are relevant.

The things that I think make this type of meal work include using the freshest possible ingredients, using good quality basics and not being afraid to improvise and experiment.  In the summer I love making a fresh tomato salad and serving it with something like garlic prawns and some crusty bread.  A good tomato salad depends on having *proper* tomatoes, ones that smell like tomatoes when you buy them (or better still, ones you’ve picked from your own garden), keeping the tomatoes OUT of the fridge and preparing the salad enough in advance to allow it to rest sprinkled with a little salt before you dress it.  What else goes in depends on your taste, your imagination and of course, what else you are serving with it. Possibilities include anchovies, onion or shallot, avocado pear, croutons, feta and a whole range of herbs.  This time, I’ve used a few capers and olives just to complement the tomato and a little purple basil.

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Tomato Salad with Garlic Prawns

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

10 mins

 

You can make the garlic prawns with shelled or shell on prawns. Either way, remember to devein them before cooking. Green or purple basil will both work well with this dish and flat leaf parsley may be used instead. If you don't have freshvlemon to serve with the prawns, then you can use a small amount of wine toward the end of cooking the prawns.

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: British

Servings: 1

Author: Fiona Maclean

Ingredients

Salad

• 2-3 Vine Tomatoes
• 2-3 Large Capers sliced
• 4-6 Olives
• pinch Sea Salt
• 1/2 clove Garlic
• 2 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• handful Basil

Garlic Prawns

• 6-8 Green Prawns
• 1/2 clove Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1/4 Lemon

Instructions

Salad

1. Skin the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them and leaving them for about 2 minutes. The skins will slip off very easily.
2. Dice the tomatoes remove any woody core and if you want, remove the seeds
3. Crush the garlic and mix into the olive oil
4. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and and cover
5. Slice the capers, tear the basil leaves up and mix all the ingredients into the salad

Garlic Prawns

1. Heat the remaining olive oil in a small pan
2. Crush the remaining half garlic clove into the oil and cook gently for a minute or so
3. Add the prawns and cook until they are pink and opaque through
4. Serve with a wedge of lemon

I can’t wait for this year’s tomato crop.  There’s really nothing better than a tomato salad made with vine tomatoes fresh from the garden