Serves: 2
Prep: 15 min
Cook: Optional (add grilled seafood, beef or chicken)

Ingredients:
2 handfuls of baby salad leaves
1 small Lebanese cucumber
½ red capsicum
1 mango (consider nectarines or oranges)
½ Spanish onion

Dressing:
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 small red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
2 limes juiced
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of soy sauce

1. Begin with mixing the dressing together to allow it time to mature. I like to begin with dissolving the sugar into the lime juice and adding the garlic. The longer the garlic is in the citrus the more will cook slightly in the acidity.
2. Add remaining ingredients and set to one side.
3. Wash and chop together the main ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Dress just before serving.

I think the rocket makes this salad a bit rougher. Some might think it is all very unusual – but I really liked it.

Serves: 1
Prep: 5 min
Cook time: 7 min

Ingredients:
1 small piece of rump stake
1 carrot
A handful of baby rocket and baby spinach
1 Lebanese cucumber

Dressing:
1 teaspoon of peanut oil
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 clove of garlic finely chopped

Sesame seeds to serve

1. Wash your salad leaves and leave to dry off a little while you begin to cook your rump.
2. Place a little olive oil into a hot pan and fry (or grill if you have one!) the stake for 3 or so minutes each side before resting for three minutes. Of course it will depend on how you like your stake cooked. I have mine medium rare.
3. During this time you will have been able to peel and slice your carrot and cucumber.
4. While resting the beef make the dressing by combining the above ingredients
5. Finely slice the stake into strips to serve and bring all of the ingredients together and gently mix through the salad and dressing.
6. Plate and serve with sprinkles of sesame seeds.

Vera and I have had some lovely meals together… and we’ve also reclaimed Lambrusco which is a wonderful summer drink and not as alcoholic as other wines. Very suitable for a school night and nice with this salad.

Serves: 2
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:
Lean pork meet cut into strips
Vermicelli noodles (otherwise known as glass noodles)
1 carrot grated
A bunch of iceberg lettuce leaves shredded
½ red onion sliced
A handful of almonds cut in halves
A fresh lime

You could also add capsicum, paw paw, cucumber or replace the iceberg with Chinese cabbage.

1. Firstly pan fry the pork until cooked while bringing a saucepan of water to the boil (this is for the vermicelli)
2. Use some of the down time here to grate your carrot, shred the iceberg and slice the onion adding all to one bowl.
3. Once the water has boiled add the vermicelli noodles and cook for 3 or so minutes until tender. Strain and run under cool water.
4. Place in the bowl with salad and stir through. I find that I really need to take a pair of scissors to them, to shorten the lengths or I find it very difficult to stir through.
5. Pour over dressing and serve into two plates top with a slice of lime, the almonds and pork.

Dressing:
¼ cup of Rice Vinegar
¼ cup of caster sugar
1 long red chili, seeds removed and sliced
1 garlic clove finely chopped

6. Add the rice vinegar and caster sugar to a saucepan and heat through until the sugar has melted. Turn off the heat adding chilli and garlic to infuse.

Mix:
For every two handfuls of kalamata olives chopped
One huge handful of basil, chopped
One garlic clove
The juice of half a lemon
A tablespoon of olive oil
A bit of fresh chili is optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Its based on making lemon oil that can be used for a whole host of things – such as this pasta dish, salad dressing or fish marinade… and so on.

This dish worked really well for me today as I just made it out of things lying around. You can adapt this dish easily for example – adding fresh chili, replacing the basil with rocket and popping in some cherry tomatoes…

Remember that simple fresh dishes like this rely on your ingredients being fresh and good quality.

Serves: 2
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min

Ingredients:
200g angel hair pasta
10-12 large basil leaves
Parmesan

Lemon oil:
1 lemon juiced
½ teaspoon of finely chopped lemon zest
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste.

Cal: 569 per serve

This dish is ideal for spring lunch or dinner and is best served cold, making it excellent for packed lunches or picnics.

1. Create the lemon oil by whipping all of the ingredients together. They will blend nicely and the lemon will cook the garlic.
2. Cook the angle hair pasta for 2min until al dente. Strain and run under cold water to prevent further cooking.
3. In a bowl mix the pasta, roughly chopped basil and lemon oil with sea salt and cracked pepper to taste.
4. Serve with parmesan on top.

This is a fast and fresh meal. It also marks the beginning of my campaign to bring back the iceberg lettuce out of trailer park prejudice and back to the gourmet meal.

Now! The iceberg is crisper and more watery than another lettuce. It works fantastically well with Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, so much so – I couldn’t imagine using any other lettuce.

Salad One: Thaislaw

Serves: Two
Preperation: 15min
Cook: zip

Ingredients:
A few iceberg lettuce leaves shredded
Two grated carrots
Roughly chopped mint

For the dressing:
Juice of two limes
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
½ teaspoon of sesame oil
A clove of garlic chopped
Fresh chili, seeds removed and chopped finely
A 2cm knob of ginger finely chopped

This salad dressing suits any thai salad and the variety is endless. Here I have composed a very simple shredded salad making the Iceburg the star of the show.

1. Combine the lettuce, carrots and mint into a serving bowl.
2. In a separate bowl mix together the dressing and mix well. In a few minutes, once the flavours have settled give it a bit of a taste. The idea here is that you can still taste the limes quite strongly, with a nutty edge. Be careful that the sesame doesn’t over power the fresh flavours.

Salad Two: Cucumber Salad

Serves: Four
Preperation: 15 min
Cook: zip

Ingredients:
3 Lebanese Cucumbers
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons scallions — finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger root — finely chopped

1. Peel the cucumbers and chop them by cutting firstly, horizontally through them, and then in 2cm chunks.
2. Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the cucumber just before serving.

Meat of it: Garlic Prawns
Cook quickly on a high heat with plenty of oil and a couple of cloves of garlic, depending on how much you have. For two, I brought half a kilo of shelled prawns and used three cloves of garlic.