Unmasked, life is good at the table
And then, there we were, as if the past year never happened. Sitting around a table together, under the crape myrtles in the backyard, unmasked, joking and passing plates — the uncertainty and loneliness of the last year melting away like ice in the glass pitcher in the center of the table. This was the first time in over a year that we were able to sit together as a family, at the same table, unmasked. There was banter and good-natured kidding, but we weren’t far enough away from “that year” to have a good laugh about it. If comedy equals tragedy plus time, we had a ways to go, but we were approaching normal and that is good enough for me.
The weather’s heating up and cool dinner salads sound refreshing and “just right.”
This one is by Vivian Lui in her new cookbook, “Eat California” that celebrates the incredible produce and seafood found on the West Coast.
Spring Prawn Salad
Prep time is about 15 minutes and 10 minutes for Avocado Green Goddess — cooking time is 10 minutes; recipe serves four.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus 3 spring (green) onions 3 fresh bay leaves
8 whole black peppercorns 1-pound raw medium prawns, peeled and deveined, or 1 pound cooked and peeled medium shrimp
½ cup thinned Avocado Green Goddess (recipe below)
¾ cup sugar snap peas or snow peas, string removed
1 bunch of pea shoot leaves, tough stems removed
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup pistachios, roughly chopped
Directions: Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Prepare an ice bath. Add the asparagus and cook for 1 minute until just bright. Remove and transfer to the ice bath. Once cool, drain the asparagus in a colander.
If you are using raw, uncooked shrimp, place the spring onions, bay leaves and whole peppercorns in the pan and return to the boil. Add the prawns, cover and turn off the heat. Poach for 8 to 10 minutes until just cooked through. Strain and discard the aromatics, then toss the prawns with 2 tablespoons of the Avocado Green Goddess dressing and leave to cool.
Place the sugar snap peas and pea shoot leaves in a large bowl. Add half the remaining dressing, season and toss lightly.
Season the asparagus and serve with the prawns, topped with the sugar snap peas and leaves. Sprinkle the pistachios on top and serve with the remaining dressing.
Avocado Green Goddess Dressing (Adapted)
Ingredients:
• 1 avocado, stoned and sliced
• 1 cup parsley, leaves and tender stems
• ¼ cup fresh chives
• ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Grated zest of 1 lemon, plus juice of ½ lemon
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar • Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS >> Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth and lightly flecked with green herbs, scraping down the side as necessary. Season with salt and pepper. For a thinner dressing, add 1 tablespoon water at a time and process until you reach the desired consistency. Season lightly. This warm lemon-scented, olive -spiked focaccia by Nigel Slater from his cookbook, A Year of Good Eating, was the perfect accompaniment to the shrimp salad. Green Olive and Thyme Focaccia
Ingredients:
• 500 grams strong white bread flour (3.84 cups)
• 7 grams easy bake dried yeast — 1 packet plus
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3-4 tablespoons lemon olive oil*
• 1 ½ cups warm water
• 2⁄3 cup lemon marinated or green olives, stoned and roughly chopped
• 4 sprigs of thyme, picked
• Sea salt flakes
DIRECTIONS >> Takes 2 hours,
30 min.
Step 1 — Rub the bottom of the baking tin with a little of the oil. Set the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2 — Put the flour and yeast into a large bowl and add the sea salt, finely crushed then 1 tablespoon of the oil and the warm water. Mix thoroughly, then turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly for five minutes or so.
Step 3 — As soon as the dough feels elastic, put it into a lightly floured bowl, cover with a cloth or clingfilm, then leave it in a warm place to rise.
Step 4 — Once it has doubled in size — about an hour or so — gently press it down with your fist, knocking some of the air out. Remove the dough from its bowl (it will sink more, but no matter) and place on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle over the olives and thyme leaves and knead them into the dough.
Step 5 — Place the dough
into the baking tin and push it firmly to flatten it. Cover as much of the bottom as you can, but don’t worry about it if it doesn’t quite cover it. Set aside, covered with clingfilm, for a further 30 minutes or so, until well risen.
Step 6 — With a floured finger, push several holes deep into the dough, then spoon over half the olive oil. Scatter liberally with salt flakes. Bake for 2530 minutes until pale gold and sounds hollow when tapped on the base, then spoon over the remaining oil.
Step 7 — While still warm, free the bread from the pan with a palette knife, leave to cool a little, then tear or slice into pieces.
It’s an unbelievable feeling of freedom to have your whole family vaccinated.
If you are hesitating, don’t. Don’t miss out on a summer of hugs and picnics, car trips, camping, barbecues and swimming because the fear of COVID is hanging over your head. And if you’re not vaccinated it is out there, waiting. Thank you, science, for the miracle of this vaccine and the protection it provides.