You might not know this: I really do NOT enjoy week night cooking. I find it an absolute chore: Time is limited and everyone wants my attention – and I’m so hungry after a full day of work that I’m eyeing up the corn chips and the hummus (and the baking) and my willpower is waning. So, to get week night dinners on the table FAST there’s two ingredients I’ve just got to have on standby: Large wholemeal Lebanese Bread (of the ‘pita’ variety) and frozen prawns. Both are super versatile and assist with getting dinner on the table in record time.
The following recipe, which uses both of my ‘must have ingredients,’ was inspired by the Street Food episode on Gordon Ramsay’s Home Cooking programme. If I may be super modest (not!), my version of Gordon’s Street Food genius is just as good as his looked! Healthy, fast and delicious. By the way, as with lots of my recipes, use ingredients you have on hand: No prawns? Try cubes of pan fried chicken. No capsicum? What about using corn instead? Got no fresh herbs? Doesn’t matter! You get the idea 🙂 Big picture: You can have this on the table. Fast.
Prawn, Pita and Salad Medley
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
20 frozen prawns (tails removed)
4 teaspoons of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp chilli flakes (or chopped fresh chilli)
1 tablespoon lime juice + a bit extra
1/2 teaspoon smoked garlic salt (or 1/4 tsp salt flakes)
2 handfuls of ‘greenery’ (rocket, baby spinach or sliced lettuce)
1/2 avocado – cubed
1 large radish – diced into small pieces
1 spring onion – finely sliced
1/2 capsicum – diced (any colour)
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered (or 1 large tomato cut into small bite sized pieces)
60g feta, diced
Handful fresh herbs (I used a mix of basil and mint) + a bit extra for garnish
2 large Lebanese/Pita breads (my absolute favourite are the ones from Alamir Bakery*)
Optional: Lime infused oil for drizzling (Village Press Lime Infused Oil is ‘the business’) and a ‘dollop’ of Chilli Jam.
- Defrost the prawns by placing in a bowl, covering them with hot water and draining them in a colander about three minutes later. Pat dry with paper towels. Return to bowl, add garlic, lime juice, 1 tsp olive oil, chilli flakes and smoked garlic salt (if you don’t have this, just season well). Set aside.
- Make the salad by combining all the chopped vegetables, avocado, feta and fresh herbs in a bowl. Add a squirt of lime juice and 1 tsp of olive oil. Season well. Mix gently to combine.
- Place a large frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the last two teaspoons of olive oil and add the prawns, including the marinade. Cook for about three minutes, turning prawns halfway through. The prawns will be pale pink when they are ready. When cooked, transfer the prawns and cooking juice (marinade) to a clean bowl and set aside.
- Wipe the frying pan clean with a paper towel. Return to the heat. Add the pita bread to the pan and heat until the bread starts browning. Flip and repeat on the other side.
- Place the pita bread on a plate. Pile up half the salad onto each pita, top with the prawn mixture, making sure you evenly distribute the marinade/juice too… that’s the best bit. To serve, scatter with some fresh herbs and, if you want to be really fancy and take it to a whole new level: Place a dollop of Chilli Jam in the centre and drizzle some lime infused olive oil all over.
