Thursday, 23 January 2014

Pork and prawn salad with green curry dressing


I would eat some kind of casserole or stew everything day during colder weather if I could. I blame my Dad for this, because he makes an excellent casserole, and I enjoyed many of them in my younger days. The other people in my house tend to get a bit sick of this kind of comfort' food, especially the man of the house. He has been know to refer to this type of food as 'sloppy.' 'Wash his mouth out,' I say!

Clearly the above dish is not a casserole or stew. It is my attempt at keeping the peace at the dinner table.
It was destined to be a pork and prawn green curry with spinach - read 'sloppy' - that I turned into a salad instead. Clever, aren't I! It wasn't too hard, tasted great and got me some smiles around the table.

What you'll need

Serves 2

400g pork fillet
200g raw medium-sized prawns, shelled
2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves, washed
small red onion, finely sliced into rings
2 eshallots, finely sliced
1 cup raw snow peas (mangetout), finely sliced lengthways
2 eggs, soft boiled and peeled
handful roasted peanuts
handful each of fresh basil and mint leaves, finely chopped
vegetable oil for pan frying
salt and pepper

For the dressing
2 teaspoons green curry paste (if you want the dressing more mild or spicy, you can add more or less paste)
Juice and zest of two limes
1 tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

What to do

Cook the pork fillet. Heat a pan and a splash of oil over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the pork fillet and cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Season well with salt and pepper. This will give a medium pork, a little pink in the middle Once cooked, keep warm and rest it for 10 minutes.

In the same pan, add a little more olive oil, increase the heat to high and cook the prawns. This will only take a few minutes. Stir them constantly, and as soon as they turn a cloudy colour, remove them into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Make the dressing. Place all the ingredients into a screw-top jar. Screw on the lid and shake very well into the curry paste has dissolved into the other ingredients. Taste it and adjust with more soy, lime juice or curry paste as necessary.

Assemble the salad. In a bowl, place the spinach, eshallots, snow peas, red onion and herbs. Pour on a little of the dressing, about half, and mix well. Divide the salad between two serving plates. Slice the pork and arrange with the prawns over the salad. Sprinkle over the peanuts and spoon on a little extra dressing. Lastly, slice the boiled eggs and place on top of the salad.

Serve immediately. Lovely, fresh and spicy flavours that go great with a glass of fruity white wine.

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