Seasonal local food recipe No.359 – Vietnamese salad with tiger prawns

Frank made this delicious salad for Friday’s supper.  If you don’t eat prawns you could substitute with some fried tofu or just have the salad as is.  Frank used the radishes and bean sprouts from this week’s veg boxes for an extra bit of crunch!

Serves 4 for a starter or 2 for a main

Preparation time: 30-40 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
8 tiger prawns, peeled and de-veined (we used frozen)
1 bunch fresh mint leaves
1 bunch fresh coriander
200g cucumber
2 shallots
100g bean sprouts
small bunch radishes, sliced
40g cashew nuts
150g pomelo or grapefruit
For the dressing:
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 small red chilli (eg bird’s-eye)

Method
First make the dressing because you’ll use it to marinate your prawns.  Very finely chop or mince the garlic and chilli.  Place these in an empty jar and then add all the other dressing ingredients.  Shake well until the sugar dissolves.  Taste – you can adjust the level of spice, saltiness, sweetness or sourness according to your tastes.  Place the prawns in a dish and pour over a little of the dressing, just enough to coat.  Refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients.

Deseed and cut the cucumber into fine matchsticks and place in a bowl.  Next, finely slice the shallots and add these.  Then prepare the pomelo/grapefruit – remove the skin from each segment so you only have the juicy centre.  Break the segments into chunks.  Add to the bowl along with the chopped mint and coriander and the beansprouts.

Finally prepare the cashew nuts.  Spread them out on a baking sheet and bake in a hot oven for about 5 minutes until they are golden.  Alternatively you could brown them under a hot grill.  Once they have cooled coarsely chop them and add them to the salad.

Next cook the prawns.  Heat a griddle pan on a high flame with a little olive oil.  Once the oil is hot place your prawns in the pan.  Cook until the prawns are pink and firm but they should not become tough – about 2 minutes each side should be enough.  Take the prawns off the heat and allow to rest while you dress and plate the salad.  Dress the salad and divide evenly between the plates before placing the prawns on top.

Radishes and bean sprouts in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

There’s nothing quite like the taste of sweet and crunchy new radishes as we come into spring.

In all our boxes this week:-
*radish bunch
*sprouted mung beans
*mixed salad leaves (rocket, baby chard, mizuma, golden mustard, red mustard, lettuce)
*onions
*cabbage (Camel CSA/Mark Norman, Bodmin)
beetroot (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*green tomato chutney (our own homemade)
*purple sprouting broccoli OR red Russian kale
leeks (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

Try these radish recipes on Camel CSA’s recipes page: –
Warm halloumi with radish, apple and pecan salad
Maharashtrian radish salad

Bean sprouts and spring onions in Cornish veg boxes

It’s exceptionally muddy on our site after Storm Imogen brought torrential rain and high winds to Cornwall.

In our weekly veg boxes today: –
*spring onions
*sprouted mung beans (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*curly kale
celeriac (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
carrots (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*Swiss chard or purple sprouting broccoli
*parsnips
red cabbage (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

Try celeriac in these roots dishes on Camel CSA’s recipes page:-
Three-root mash
Three-root boulangère

Radishes, bean sprouts and oriental stir-fry leaves in our veg boxes this week

Lots more freshly-picked and flavoursome veg to enjoy in Camel CSA’s weekly vegetable boxes.

All boxes have: –
* radish bunch (Camel CSA)
* sprouted mung beans (Camel CSA)
* stir-fry oriental leaves – mibuna, mizuna, spinach (Camel CSA)
* mixed salad bag (Camel CSA)
* purple sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA/Restharrow)
leeks  (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Restharrow)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra 500g potatoes
* rhubarb (Camel CSA)
* red Russian kale (Camel CSA)
* swede (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles
** baby leaf beet, lettuce, rocket,  red mustard and golden mustard greens