Pink Grapefruit, Prawn & Toasted Coconut Salad

I've spent a lot of my time over the last few weeks decluttering.  Like a woman possessed, I have bit by bit gone through every room and cupboard in the house, having a major clean-out of all that stuff I've been hanging onto "just in case" it's ever needed one day.

I have spoken to my yoga students often about staying in the present, living in the moment, and yet despite that I have managed to surround myself with a whole lot of stuff because of some attachment to a time long past, or possible need in some uncertain future.  It's ridiculous, it doesn't amount to staying present, and it's all been suffocating me.

I have to say I'm surprised how long it's taken to work my way through the house, and I'm not finished yet (there's still the bathroom and kitchen cupboards) to go, but I guess I'm not going to deal with 40 years of accumulated clap-trap in five minutes.  Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I would have made an ideal candidate for "World's Greatest Hoarders", but there was a lot of stuff.

There's no doubt this is an incredibly freeing process - it's given me a real sense of lightening the load, and allowing space for change.

So what does all of this have to do with this dish?  Well, part of my decluttering process has extended to trying to give the freezer a bit of a clean-out, wherein I found a bag of prawns that needed to be used up.  Since we have another Mystery Box Challenge this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, which requires us to make a dish from anyone of our IHCC chefs using at least three of these ingredients: potatoes, buttermilk, flour, paprika, onion, leafy greens, lemon, honey, prawns, and feta - it seemed like the ideal time to use those prawns.

I'd had Diana Henry's recipe in A Change of Appetite for A Warm Salad of Pink Grapefruit, Prawns, and Toasted Coconut bookmarked for quite a while, and since with a little adaptation the recipe enabled me to use prawns, leafy greens and honey, this looked like the perfect dish to meet the mystery box challenge.

I made only very minimal changes to the recipe, briefly oven-roasting the prawns instead of pan frying them, since I always look for any opportunity I can to avoid standing over a frying pan, and for a bit of extra kick I added some red pepper flakes to the prawns while the roasted.  I also replaced sugar in the dressing with honey, and replaced groundnut oil with a combination of olive oil and sesame oil.

This made a wonderful light meal, absolutely bursting with flavour and interesting texture - soft, velvety leaves provide a cooling background to spicy prawns and the citrusy, sweet-tart burst of the grapefruit, accompanied by the crunch of the coconut, peanuts and sesame seeds.  This is definitely a dish I can see myself repeating often over the remainder of summer - I can even see it inspiring a few variations.

Pink Grapefruit, Prawn & Toasted Coconut Salad Recipe
Adapted (barely) from recipe by Diana Henry
from A Change of Appetite
Serves 2 as a light meal

for the dressing:
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil

for the salad:
2x pink grapefruit
1 cup shaved coconut from a fresh coconut
1 tablespoon olive oil
350g (12 oz) fresh prawns, shelled & deveined
red pepper flakes
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
leafy salad greens
bunch of fresh mint leaves
1x red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
large handful roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (360 degrees F).

Begin by making the dressing.  Place all the ingredients in a small jug, whisk to combine, and set aside.

Prepare the grapefruit - remove the peel and all the white pith from the grapefruit, then, working over a bowl, remove the segments by running a sharp knife between the membrane and the flesh on each side of the segment to release the segment.  Discard the membrane, set the flesh aside.

Using a hammer or the back of a heavy knife, break the coconut shell open and prise out the flesh.  Using a vegetable peeler, shave the coconut into thin slices.  Dry fry the shaved coconut in a pan over medium heat until golden.  This happens quickly, so don't leave the kitchen.

In a bowl toss together the prawns, olive oil, generous pinch of red pepper flakes, flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Spread prawns in a single layer in an ovenproof dish and roast in the preheated oven until cooked through - this only takes a few minutes.

Remove from the oven and immediately toss with the grapefruit segments, red chilli and half the dressing.

Arrange salad greens and mint on serving plates, and arrange prawns and grapefruit amongst the salad leaves.  Scatter toasted coconut, peanuts, and sesame seeds over the top, and drizzle with the remaining dressing.

Serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Diana Henry a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links (who knows, you might even want to join the journey and cook along with us) ...

... or check out A Change of Appetite and Diana's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

Salmon with Mango, Edamame & Pink Grapefruit Salad

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, our theme is Tropical Delights.  I love food that transports me to the tropics any time, and enjoying the tail end of summer here in New Zealand right now, this was the perfect theme to get excited about.

I've holidayed several times in Bali, and also in Queensland (Australia), and on such occasions nearly the first thing I do as soon as I get off the plane is find a good fruit stall and stock up on papaya, mango and pineapple.  These are pretty much my all time favourite fruits, but as none of them are really grown here in New Zealand, indulging in them is at best a rare treat.  Set me down in a tropical destination, however, and you will find me literally gorging on them every day for the duration of my stay.

As most of you will know, our current guest chef, Donna Hay, is based in Australia where tropical fruit is abundant at this time of year.  Little surprise then that the latest summer issue of Donna Hay magazine is positively groaning with tropically-inspired fare - seriously, I was just about drooling over every single page.  But the dish that really leapt out at me was Donna's Salmon with Papaya Salad & Pink Grapefruit Dressing.  Of course Donna's styling is always stunning, but I found the picture of her crispy skinned salmon, alongside a gorgeous wedge of orange-fleshed papaya, garnished with lotus root chips and Thai basil leaves particularly captivating - the kind of dish I could easily imagine myself eating on a steamy evening, sitting on the terrace of one of my favourite Balinese restaurants.

Of course, I live in Nelson, New Zealand, not some tropical island paradise, so I couldn't find a ripe papaya last week for love nor money.  Ditto Thai basil leaves.  Also lucked out on the lotus root, which they do often stock in the freezer of my local Asian supermarket, but the one day I want some ... nada!

So, what's a girl to do when obsessed with a certain dish and ingredients aren't available?  Improvise of course.  Mango seemed like a good alternative to papaya.  I could use some peppery rocket leaves and mizuna instead of Thai basil and Chinese spinach.  I also decided that since the salad had a pink grapefruit dressing, some grapefruit segments in the salad would be a nice addition, and I also added some edamame to make the salad a little more substantial.  In fact, even without the salmon, the resulting salad would make a delicious, light meal in its own right.

Salmon with Mango, Edamame &
Pink Grapefruit Salad Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Donna Hay
From Feb/Mar 2014 issue of Donna Hay magazine

2x skin-on, bone out salmon fillets
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salad
1x firm mango, ever so slightly under-ripe, peeled and cut into wedges
1x pink grapefruit, peeled & cut into segments (membrane removed)
3/4 cup shelled edamame
2x generous handfuls of peppery leaves such as rocket, cress, mizuna

Dressing:
juice of 1x pink grapefruit
2 tablespoons grated palm sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 cm (3/4 in) piece of ginger, finely grated

Begin by making the dressing.  Place all the dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake vigorously to combine.  Set aside.

Put vegetable oil in a non-stick frypan set over medium heat.  Season salmon with salt and pepper, and once pan is heated, place salmon in the pan skin side down.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, before turning over and cooking for approximately one more minute or until done to your liking.

While salmon is cooking, place all the salad ingredients in a medium bowl and toss gently to combine.

To serve, arrange salad on serving plates, drizzle with the dressing, and top with the salmon.

This was a wonderful dish, full of great flavours and textures, and washed down with an excellent gewurtztraminer loaded with tropical flavours of lychee and papaya, it wasn't hard to close my eyes and imagine myself in some island paradise.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous tropical delights my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Soy Chicken

I love Asian food, of all varieties, and almost invariably if we decide to dine out we will opt for something Asian ... Thai, Indian, Japanese.  Vietnamese or Malaysian would feature on that list too if such cuisines were available where I live, but sadly that isn't the case.

When I'm at home too, and need to turn out dinner in a hurry, I will often look for a bit of Asian inspiration.  I adore the way Asian dishes seem to really wake-up jaded taste buds with their bright, vibrant flavours;  I love that most often Asian dishes deliver maximum flavour with minimal time and effort applied;  my dishpan hands (actually I don't have dishpan hands because I use a dishwasher, but you get my drift) love the fact that Asian dishes (apart from maybe a pot to boil some rice or noodles) are usually "one-pot wonders";   and my wallet is happy that Asian food is usually very budget-friendly to produce.

This week, at I Heart Cooking Clubs, our theme is "Passport to Asia" - a theme I've been eagerly looking forward to for ages.  Our current chef, Donna Hay, has literally dozens of fresh, simple Asian-inspired dishes in every one of her books - the hardest part of this challenge was narrowing it down to just one dish to cook.  In the end I thought I would share this Soy Chicken dish from Donna's book "Seasons".  It's one of my favourite dishes, and one I've made several times, so it seemed only fair to share it with you.

A whole chicken is firstly poached in a mixture of Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and orange, then transferred to a hot oven to crisp up the skin.  This is absolutely delicious served straight out of the oven, with some steamed rice, and a drizzle of the poaching liquid over the top - some steamed broccoli or bok choy would make a great side.  My other favourite way to serve this is to simply shred the chicken, and serve on a large platter with some carrot and cucumber juliennes, maybe some crisp iceberg lettuce and avocado, some rice vermicelli noodles, even boiled egg wedges and radishes are good too - alongside serve some rice paper wrappers and a bowl of water and let everyone dig in and make their own fresh spring rolls.

Soy Chicken Recipe

Adapted (very slightly) from recipe by Donna Hay

from Seasons

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

640ml Chinese cooking wine

8 cups water

3/4 cup dark soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick cinnamon

4 star anise

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

5cm (2 inch) piece of ginger, sliced

4 strips pink grapefruit peel (or orange peel)

1.6kg whole organic, free-range chicken

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Meanwhile, put the Chinese cooking wine, water, soy sauce and sugar into a large pot.  Set the pan over high heat and stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat and add the cinnamon, star anise, garlic, ginger, citrus peels, and chicken.  Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the poaching liquid, place on a rack in a baking dish, and cook in the preheated oven until the skin is golden and crispy - about 15 to 20 minutes.

Cut into pieces and served with steamed rice.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous Asian-inspired dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, at Cook your Books hosted by Joyce at Kitchen Flavours, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

              

Roasted Monkfish with Pink Grapefruit & Fennel Salsa

I apologise outright for the brevity of this post (I know some of you might think that's a good thing), but the need to keep this brief has just dawned on me.  You see normally on the weekends I spend a fair bit of time here in "blogland", churning out a few posts, dabbling in the kitchen without the normal time constraints and pressures of the busy week.

This weekend, however, is going to be different - I am off to Auckland tomorrow for my nephew's wedding.  I've got to tell you that I'm pretty excited about that - a wedding is always a special occasion - but a wedding in the family seems to take on an extra degree of "specialness" (I know that probably isn't a proper word, but I'm sticking to it).  Can't remember the last time we had a wedding in the family - maybe it was one of mine, but perhaps its best we don't go down that road just now.  Anyway, there is something so "hopeful" about the family coming together for such an occasion - friends and family (on both sides begin to gather from all over the country) looking forward with great anticipation to this special day.

So I have been making my own preparations for this occasion:  book plane ticket (tick - did that several weeks ago);  arrange accommodation (tick - get to stay the weekend with my brother and hang out with him and his "soon to be wife" - yes we have another wedding in a month's time);  can't wear yoga clothes to a wedding, so get a new dress (tick - lunch and shopping spree with girlfriend last weekend - highly successful);  get shoes to go with new dress (tick - got lucky with a shoe sale on the way to the supermarket yesterday);  get wedding present - completely torn - they have a wedding register set up at a well known local store or a fund set up at the travel agent for their honeymoon - wedding registers always make me want to go outside of the box, but then the travel fund seems like a good idea - still no idea what to do but will have to make a decision and act today;  as I will be out of internet action for three days, get all essential blog posts (including next week's "Make it with ... Mondays" post) set up for publication by tonight - yikes, how did I not see that coming?!

So, with much to do between now and the time I fly out tomorrow, brief this post must be - though it does appear that, having just explained all that to you, my attempt at brevity has been somewhat lost. Anyways, this is my contribution for the week to I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we are cooking with Giada de Laurentiis, and our theme for the week is "Let's Get Roasted".  I had a browse through Giada's Kitchen looking for inspiration - roast beef didn't particularly appeal (not one of my favourites) and, although the roasted pork loin with roasted garlic vinaigrette appealed a lot (you know after all how I feel about a bit of pork), I decided against it since I am on my own right now (I've mentioned before that my partner is in India for a couple of months - read more about his journey on his blog, Arunachala Kiwi).  In the end, I settled on this recipe for Roasted Halibut with Grapefruit Fennel Salsa - a piece of fish, simply prepared, with a fresh, simple, tangy, crunchy salad makes a perfect dinner for one.  I'm pretty sure we don't actually get halibut in New Zealand, so I used monkfish instead, but any firm-fleshed white fish would do.  I also reduced the original quantity of the salad - as I didn't make any other vegetables or sides this was a perfect quantity for one person, but with some other vegetables would be just right for two.

Roasted Monkfish with Pink Grapefruit & Fennel Salsa

Adapted from recipe in Giada's Kitchen

2 servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2 pieces of firm-fleshed white fish

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

1 pink-fleshed grapefruit

1 small (or 1/2 large) fennel bulb

handful of black olives

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly chopped flat leaf parsley

red pepper flakes

flaky sea salt

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F).

Place a sheet of parchment paper in the base of a roasting dish, placing the fish on top of the paper.  Drizzle with a hint of olive oil, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and a good grinding of black pepper.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes - this will depend on the thickness of the fish.  While the fish is cooking prepare the salsa. 

Using a zester grate a little of the zest from the grapefruit (about 1/2 teaspoon will be enough) into a medium-sized bowl.  Cut all the peel and pith away from the grapefruit.  Then hold the grapefruit over the bowl containing the zest, and using a sharp knife cut down in between each of the fruit segments and the membranes and let the grapefruit segments fall into the bowl as each one is removed.  Once all the fruit has been removed, squeeze the membrane over the bowl to extract all the juice.

Cut the fennel bulb in half lengthwise, slice it as thinly as possible, and add the fennel to the bowl containing the grapefruit.  Place the olives on a chopping board;  using the bottom of a glass or cup, press on each one to split the olive and prise out the stone.  Chop the olives roughly and add to the fennel and grapefruit.  Add the extra virgin olive oil, chopped parsley, sprinkling of flaky sea salt and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Taste and adjust any of these seasonings as necessary.

As soon as the fish is cooked, transfer it to a serving plate, add the grapefruit and fennel salsa and serve immediately.

Verdict:  will definitely make again - fresh, healthy, plenty of flavour, quick and easy to prepare - what more could you want.

Interested in getting to know Giada a bit better?  Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Giada's Kitchen and many of her other titles, available from Amazon, Book Depository UK and Fishpond NZ

       

P.S. Thanks to all those of you who have linked up so far to "Make it with ... Mondays".  There is still time to link up for both challenge saffron (closes Monday 17 January) and challenge vanilla (closes Monday 24 January).  I'd love you to join in if you haven't already done so, and keep watching for next week's special "Make it with ... Mondays" ingredient - we'll be making it with quinoa.

Chicken & Shrimp with Pancetta Chimichurri

Another week of cooking with Giada de Laurentiis rolls around at I Heart Cooking Clubs, and our theme this week is "Out of Italy", the mission - cook any Giada de Laurentiis recipe that is not Italian in origin.  As I am still waiting for my copy of Giada's Kitchen to arrive (when you live at the bottom of the world, these things take time), I had a bit of a trawl through some of Giada's recipes on  the Food Network website where I came across this recipe for Chicken and Shrimp with Pancetta Chimichurri from the "Rock the Block" episode of Giada at Home on Food Network.

Chimichurri is originally from Argentina and Uruguay, though I believe it also crops up in Nicaraguan and Mexican food, and is often used as a marinade for meats.  Now let me tell you that I have never had chimichurri before, so I have nothing to compare it to, and have no idea what an authentic chimichurri should taste like.  But somehow in my mind I always imagined that it would be quite a peppy and fiery kind of sauce.  This version certainly isn't either of those things.  That said, there was nothing wrong with it;  in fact, I enjoyed it and it went perfectly with the chicken and shrimp - it didn't need to to more fiery or more peppy - just saying, if that's what you're expecting you're not going to find it here.

I served this with some Saffron Rice with Nuts, inspired by this recipe by Nigella Lawson for a Saffron-Scented Chicken Pilaf (minus the chicken), and a Citrus Salad from the California Light & Healthy episode of Giada at Home on Food Network.

All in all, this was a great dish, the kind of dish that is easy to make just for two or make for a crowd, and this one has definitely made it onto my list of "regulars".  The only, slightly negative comment I would make is that, even though I am definitely in the "almost anything can be improved with bacon" camp, this was not the case here.  The recipe calls for sprinkling some crispy pancetta (I used smoky bacon because that's what I had on hand) over the finished dish - I didn't find that this enhanced the dish in any way, either texturally or flavourwise and, almost but not quite, detracted from it ever so slightly.  Maybe this was the case because I had quite a lot going on with the rice, but next time I will almost certainly leave it out - I really think it is just an unnecessary ingredient here, but you make your own judgement about that.  If you make this I'd love to know what you think - bacon, or no bacon?

Chicken & Shrimp with Pancetta Chimichurri Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Giada de Laurentiis

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Quantities are easily adjustable to serve as many people as you like - for each person allow:

1x boneless and skinless chicken breast (preferably free-range)

125g (4.5 oz) shrimp, peeled and deveined

dried oregano

flaky sea salt

freshly ground pepper

olive oil

For Chimichurri (makes enough for 6-8 servings)

2 tablespoons olive oil

250g (8oz) pancetta, cut into small cubes (or smoky bacon, finely sliced)

3 cloves garlic

1 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/2 cup fresh oregano leaves (or 2 tablespoons dried oregano)

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

flaky sea salt

freshly ground pepper

Firstly prepare the chimichurri.  Put the garlic, parsley, oregano, vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth.  Season to taste with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat a grill pan over high heat.

Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and shrimp, sprinkle over some dried oregano, flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Toss well to coat everything thoroughly.

Once the pan is hot, grill the chicken until cooked through - about 5 or 6 minutes each side.  Set aside to rest while you grill the shrimp until they turn pink and are cooked through - just 1 or 2 minutes each side.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat, add the pancetta, and cook until browned and crispy.  Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Slice the chicken on the diagonal and arrange on a serving platter with the shrimp.  Drizzle with the chimichurri, and sprinkle the pancetta over the top.

I served this over the top of the Saffron Rice recipe which follows.  This was a great accompaniment, but you could just as easily serve this with plain steamed rice or some pasta.

Saffron Rice with Nuts

Inspired by a recipe by Nigella Lawson

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

(vegan, vegetarian)

A small handful each of roasted almonds, roasted cashews and pistachios

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup basmati rice

2 cups vegetable stock, heated

pinch saffron threads

large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Coarsely chop nuts - not too much - you still want them in fairly recognisable sized pieces.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over high heat, and once hot add the rice to the pan and stir until all the grains are well coated with the oil.  Add the hot stock and saffron to the pan, bring up to the boil, put the lid on the pan, and turn heat down to very low.  Cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked through and fluffy - about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, add the nuts and chopped flat-leaf parsley, and gently stir through using a fork.  Serve immediately.

Any simple green salad would be great with this dish, but I had some lovely fresh fennel from the Farmers Market that I wanted to use, so found this citrus salad was a great choice.  I loved this salad and know that I will be making it many times over during the next few months while fennel is around.  The original recipe called for the inclusion of some toasted walnuts which I left out since I already had lots of nuts going into the rice dish.  Having now tasted the salad I think that if you were going to put any nuts at all in this, which quite frankly I don't think it needs, I would use toasted pine nuts instead - just don't think walnuts is quite right for this, but feel free to try.  On the other hand, I can imagine that some black olives and fried haloumi would make great additions to this salad to serve on its own as a light meal or as an accompaniment to a simple fish dish such as a piece of grilled salmon.  Also the original recipe called for just one orange and one grapefruit - I found that the proportion of fruit to fennel was not quite right for my liking, so I also added one tangelo.  Feel free to adjust this to your own tastes.

Citrus Salad

Adapted from recipe by Giada de Laurentiis

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

(vegan, vegetarian)

1 large orange, peel and all white pith removed

1 pink grapefruit, peel and all white pith removed

1 tangelo, peel and all white pith removed

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves

flaky sea salt

freshly ground pepper

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts or toasted chopped walnuts (optional)

Place a sieve over a medium sized bowl.  Hold the peeled orange over the bowl and, using a sharp knife, cut down between the membrane and segment of fruit on each side to separate the fruit entirely from the membrane, and let the fruit segments fall into the sieve.  Squeeze the membrane over the bowl, extracting as much juice from it as you can.  Repeat with the grapefruit, and then with the tangelo, in each case also squeezing all of the juice out of the membrane.

Reserve the juice in the bowl, and put the fruit segments from the sieve into another bowl, along with the sliced fennel.

Using a food processor or blender, blend together the extra virgin olive oil, basil, and 3 tablespoons of the reserved citrus juice.  Season to taste with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and pour over the salad, tossing gently to combine.  Add the toasted nuts if using.

Interested in getting to know Giada a bit better?  Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Giada's Kitchen and many of her other titles, available from Amazon, Book Depository UK and Fishpond NZ