Cherry tomato and spring sugar snaps salad

Fresh sugar snaps taste best when eaten raw.  They really are as sweet as sugar!

A combination of bright green and red will bring spring time to your table.

Serve with tuna and honey lemon dressing.

Ingredients (serves 4)

200g sugar snaps

10 cherry tomatoes

1 large tin of tuna (185g)

Mix all the ingredients below before adding to the salad:

2tbls soy sauce

1tbls lemon juice

1tbls honey

1tbls grated ginger

Method

1.       Slice the sugar snaps thinly and diagonally and cut the cherry tomatoes into ¼

2.       Empty the tuna without the oil into a bowl then add the ingredients and mix well



Avocado and prawns with wasabi mayonnaise on an asparagus boat

 If you’ve got a tube of wasabi in your fridge and don’t know what to do with it, try this.Mayonnaise and wasabi make a great combination. 

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 bunches of asparagus (about 22 sticks); cut off the hard bits

100g cooked and peeled prawns

1 avocado

1 cherry tomato (cut into ¼ ) to garnish

Salt for boiling the asparagus

4tbls mayonnaise

1tsp wasabi

1tbls lemon juice

Method

1.       Boil plenty of water in a large saucepan with a pinch of salt and cook the asparagus until just cooked, drain and place on a plate (save 2 sticks for decoration)

2.       In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, wasabi, and lemon juice

3.       Put the cooked prawns and finely chopped avocado in a bowl and then stir well

4.       Put the cooked prawns and finely chopped avocado onto the asparagus and arrange the tomatoes and the asparagus for decoration on the top

Be careful not to cook the asparagus for too long or they’ll lose their flavour!



Healthy Japanese pancake with British spring greens

Savoury pancakes are very popular in western Japan.  Using a seasonal whole spring green makes it a very healthy dish. It is hard to find in the UK the paper thin sliced pork belly that is used in Japan for this dish, but bacon is a good substitute.  For a vegetarian version, just omit the bacon or use mixed seafood.

Try this quick and easy dish to make a change from lemon and sugar pancakes!

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 bunch (220g) British spring greens (or a pointed cabbage)

1 bunch (110g) of spring onions

4 slices of bacon

4 tbls vegetable oil

1 tin (about 200g) sweet corn

1 egg

200g self-raising flour

100ml water

For the sauce

Brown sauce and mayonnaise to taste

Method

1.       Cut the spring green and spring onion thinly and the bacon into 1cm wide strips

2.       In a large bowl, mix the sweetcorn, egg, flour, water, spring green, spring onion, and bacon

3.       Heat 1tbls of the vegetable oil in a frying pan then drop ¼ of the mixture to make a circular pancake about 2cm thick

4.       Cook the pancake on both sides on a medium heat for about 3 minutes; repeat this to make 4 pancakes

5.       Serve hot with brown sauce and mayonnaise