prawn, lime and mango salad

It's all going off today, in as much it can go 'off' in Mortlake. Suffice to say we're all out and about: In order of financial importance Ana's at work, Milo's got a school boat trip to Hampton Court Palace and I've got an interview at an agency in Kings Cross. Fingers-crossed eh?

Sticking to the things I can control, Milo's school trip is a fab excuse to make a monster packed lunch, complete with a suitably royal sandwich doodle. It's a scorcher today, so we also go large on water and sun cream.

Given there's a definite 'end of term' air, I've also got a surprise dinner in store for him and Ana: Prawns. Not only that prawns with mango, red onion AND avocado! It's one of Ana's old favourites, and full of Milo-friendly ingredients so surely nothing could go wrong?

Actually it all passes off without comment, relatively. Okay he doesn't eat the salad leaves, but I think double helpings of everything else probably off sets that, which means I'll be hoiking it out of the Black Book sooner than the three years it took for us to rediscover it last time.

A bit like the peach and mozzarella salad, I think the key to successfully creating this dish is ensuring you've got completely ripe avocados and mango, nothing else will do. I've also discovered that blanching the red onion in boiling water for a minute or so, a tip I since picked up from Peter Gordon (I think), makes all the difference for a successful salad.

Wine Time
You've got to stick with the Sauv with this I think, and to be honest you can take your pick from the greener Old World styles, or the tropical fruit bombs of the New World. This is because despite the creaminess of the avocado, the sweetness of the mango and prawns, all of these flavours play second fiddle to the lime dressing, so you might as well suck it up with something equally citric and punchy.

sources
prawn, lime and mango salad - Black Book