Friends and Food: Broccoli, Prawn and Ginger Salad

We recently spent a lovely long weekend in France to attend a dear friend’s birthday celebration. We took advantage of the remaining days to stock up on some wine and generally get away from it all.

While visiting friends we were treated like kings and treated to some delightful food, too. One night Stella and Jean-Philippe wowed us with a plateau de fruits de mer composed of clams, winkles, a ginormous pile of langoustines and some of the biggest crabs I’ve seen in a long while. Delightful, especially when accompanied by a delightfully crisp Cuvee Amadeus white Coteaux-d’Aix-en-Provence.

Another day at lunch Brigitte served a wonderful, fresh starter of Broccoli, Prawn and Ginger Salad that I will be making this evening when I get home. It’s so simple, especially with a Thermomix to do most of the work for you. The flavours meld together for a light, fresh taste of summer all year round. Brigitte uses it as a tasty way to get her boys to eat their vegetables!

Brigitte’s Broccoli, Prawn and Ginger Salad (Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course salad)

a one-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut crosswise into coins
30g extra virgin olive oil (omit for a fat-free version)
the juice of one lemon
salt & pepper to taste
two medium-sized heads of fresh broccoli
one pack of frozen prawns, raw or already cooked (about 200g; see below for separate cooking instructions)
1 Tbsp sea salt or regular table salt

Make the dressing:

1. Drop the ginger “coins” onto the running blades of your Thermomix and chop a few seconds at Speed 8.
2. Scrape down the sides of the Thermomix bowl with the spatula. Set the built-in weighing scales to zero and weigh in the olive oil.
3. Put the lid on and insert the measuring cup, then squeeze your lemon onto the lid. Don’t worry if the pips fall out, the handy little gap between the lid and the measuring cup will let the lemon juice run into the bowl but keep the pips out. Such a clever idea!
4. Mix 5 seconds/Speed 5. Taste and adjust seasoning then give it another swirl.
5. Tip out into your serving bowl and reserve.

Steam the broccoli and prawns:

1. Fill the Thermomix bowl with one litre of water and 1 Tbsp sea salt and set it into the base. If you wish to impart a gently infused flavour to your broccoli and prawns, add the leftover skins from the ginger to your steaming water or try steaming over Jasmine tea.
2. Trim the broccoli and cut or break into similar-sized pieces to ensure they all cook evenly. Place them in the bottom part of the Varoma steamer, ensuring there is room between them for the steam to circulate.
3. If you’re using raw prawns, spread them immediately on the top part of the Varoma steamer. Assemble the Varoma and place it on top of the Thermomix lid. Set the temperature to Varoma/20 minutes/Speed 1 and go do something else while your Thermomix steams your meal for you. Come back before you hear the Thermomix singing and check that your broccoli is cooked to your desired firmness or softness, and that the prawns have thawed and are just cooked through.
4. If your frozen prawns are the already-cooked type, assemble the Varoma and place it on top of the Thermomix lid. Set the temperature to Varoma/10 minutes/Speed 1 to begin cooking the broccoli. When the Thermomix sings to you at the end of 10 minutes, put the frozen cooked prawns into the Varoma to thaw and warm them while the broccoli finishes cooking; otherwise they’ll overcook and get hard. Programme again for Varoma/10 minutes/Speed 1. Check doneness during the last minutes of cooking as above.
5. Refresh broccoli and prawns under cold water to stop the cooking process and cool them down, unless you wish to serve a warm salad.
6. Place broccoli and prawns into your serving dish on top of the reserved dressing, mix and serve with some delicious bread made in your Thermomix.

Bon appétit !

PRINT THIS RECIPE

What? You don’t have a Thermomix yet? Put it on your Christmas list and in the meantime make this healthy salad the traditional way: Steam or microwave the broccoli and prawns. Chop the ginger and make the dressing. Mix together, serve, and voilà !

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