The warmer weather of summertime calls for fresh, bright dishes. Moving away from winter’s comfort food, we long to stay hydrated, to feel energised though lighter eating..

It’s not uncommon to see fruit in salads, particularly peaches and nectarines.

This year, watermelons have been luscious, so I developed this recipe with inspiration from two sources:

Firstly, an hors d’oeuvre of seared scallops on watermelon alerted me to how great watermelon tasted in combination with the richness of seafood. The opposition of textures and flavours was a revelation.

Secondly, a watermelon salad I shared with a friend at one of our finest restaurants, left me debating how I would change it – leave out the tomatoes, decide on the feta…etc. In the end, this salad is dairy-free, the choice of greens left up to you, so long as they have crunch. Thai basil would be a great addition to the salad if it’s available. So would young freshly picked string beans or even young snake beans. (Have fun! Play with ingredients you have readily available and fresh around you.)

This is a great recipe to spread a dozen prawns go further around a group. You could use octopus instead of the prawns.

If you’re really stuck for time, use Chang’s Fried Noodle Salad Dressing instead of making your own, with the addition of lime juice to balance and lighten the mix.

Serve as either a side or main course.

Recipe developed for CookSnapWin competition 2019 © Marj Osborne (Winner of the Summer Stunner Award in the competition – see below)

“This year, we’re bringing back our Wok of Fame awards to celebrate some of the standout dishes from this year’s contest. We absolutely loved your Watermelon and Prawn Salad with Thai Dressing recipe, and we couldn’t not reward you for this culinary creation. We’re delighted to announce that you are the winner of our Summer Stunner Award for your super summery dish.” CookSnapWin 2019


Print Recipe
Watermelon and Prawn salad with Thai dressing
Instructions
  1. Roast pine nuts in pan until golden. Set aside.
  2. Combine dressing ingredients in a jar. Taste for balance, then set aside.
  3. Place watermelon in a large bowl with fried shallots, snow peas and mint leaves.
  4. Shake sauce then dress salad and lightly mix.
  5. Scatter with pine nuts and fried onion flakes.
  6. Decorate with extra prawns (optional) and serve immediately.

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