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eat wave London! We love and hate you. Love for the warmth, pleasure and vitamin D; hate for the fact that it reminds me so painfully that I don’t have a garden, a field surrounded house or a paddling pool. Alas, I treated us to a prawn dinner on a Tuesday night to kick start the week. We geared up the braai and threw half a kilo of juicy prawns onto the griddle. I simply marinated the prawns in some lemon zest, garlic and olive oil before cooking for about 5 minutes until vibrant orange but feel free to cook without a marinade.

I also had a deliciously big skate wing waiting patiently in the freezer. It was my first attempt at cooking skate so I decided to keep it simple to accompany our feast! Roasted at 180 for 15 minutes with some S&P and lemon slices.

Noodle Salad

Serves 2-4

• 100g vermicelli noodles
• 3 spring onions, sliced finely
• 1 carrot, sliced into julienne (I’ve linked this before, but this is what you need OR just slice thinly)
• 1 mango, chopped thinly
• 1 handful salted peanuts
• 1 handful coriander, chopped
• 1 handful mint leaves, chopped
• 4 tbsp desiccated coconut (toasted lightly in a pan)
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 3-4 tbsp lime juice (1-2 limes)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 birds eye chillis – chopped

1. To make the salad, get yourself a big serving dish and add the chopped spring onions, carrot, mango, mint, coriander and toss to combine.
2. Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave to soak for 5-10 minutes. Drain and refresh under some cool water. Drain well and add 1 tsp of sesame oil to prevent them sticking.
3. Toss the noodles and salad ingredients well – the noodles won’t mix well with the veggies so do your best. Equally, you can cut the noodles in half with some scissors to make them easier to toss/eat.
4. In an old jam jar, combine the soy, honey, lime, sesame oil, fish sauce and chilli and shake well (lid on obviously!). Taste and add more of what you feel it needs. I totally made this up but it tasted good!
5. Pour about 3/4 of the dressing over the noodles and toss well. Add the rest if you feel it needs it. Don’t drown your noodles! Scatter over the peanuts and sesame seeds and serve! with your BBQ prawns or some nicely grilled salmon or sea bass!

Skate wing is a delicious meaty white fish! It doesn’t have any bones but instead cartilage that lines the wing. The meat flakes away from the cartilage so nicely you won’t fear getting a stray bone! One of the nicest fish cuts I’ve had in a long time and a dream to serve.