Dinner for six tonight? Our quick menu will have you sorted in no time
Photographs David Munns
Reproduced from March 07 issue of Olive magazine. This month's issue on sale now. Subscribe now and save 40%
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Menu Vodka, lime and soda cocktails Thai starter selection with sweet chilli dipping sauce Thai beef salad with rice noodles and cucumber and sesame salad Fruit salad with coriander-lime syrup |
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Shopping list: cherry tomatoes 200gextra fine green beans a handful spring onions 2 cucumber 1 red chilli 1, finely chopped coriander leaves 20g mint leaves 20g pineapple 1 medium papaya 1 small mango 1 small kiwi 1 pomegranate 1 (or buy 2 tubs of readymade fruit salad instead of the individual fruits) sesame seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds ½ tsp |
limes 6 rump steak 3 rice noodles 250g sesame oil 2 tbsp fish sauce 2 tbsp Blue Dragon sweet chilli dipping sauce caster sugar 2 tbsp sesame prawn toasts 8 (we bought our starters from Marks & Spencer but most supermarkets sell something similar) veggie spring rolls 6 chicken kebabs 1 pack (about 15) prawn wontons 1 pack (about 12) vodka soda ice |
Countdown to dinner at 8pm
Put any wine that needs chilling in the fridge.- Cook or soak the rice noodles following the pack instructions. Drain, rinse and cool.
- Make the fruit salad: peel the mango, papaya and kiwi and cut into bite-sized pieces. Remove the pomegranate seeds and cut the pineapple into chunks. Mix everything except the pomegranate with the juice of 1 lime. Chill.
7.20pm
Heat the caster sugar with 1 tbsp water until dissolved, add the coriander seeds (crush them lightly first) and bubble for 1 minute. Cool then strain over the fruit salad. Boil the kettle.
7.25pm
- Halve the cherry tomatoes and put them in a large bowl.
- Diagonally slice the spring onions and add to the tomatoes along with the mint and coriander leaves.
7.30pm
- Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Simmer the green beans for 5 minutes. Meanwhile lightly toast the sesame seeds. Peel the cucumber and cut into batons. Mix with the sesame seeds and sesame oil and season with salt. Rinse the beans in cold water and add to the salad, rinse the noodles again in cold water and stir them through.
Cook the starter of prawn toasts, spring rolls, kebabs and wontons following the packet instructions, you may have to adjust the oven temperatures. Set the table.
- Heat a frying pan and cook the steaks for 1-2 minutes on each side. Leave to rest. Juice the rest of the limes.
7.55pm
- Make the salad dressing: slice the red chilli finely and mix together with the fish sauce and 4 tbsp lime juice. Slice the steak into strips. Arrange the rice noodles in bowls with the beef on top then drizzle the dressing over.
Make the cocktail: mix 6 shots of vodka with the juice of the remaining limes in a jug with ice and top up with soda. Plate the starters with a small bowl of sweet chilli dipping sauce. Serve both together.- Serve the beef and rice noodles.
- Serve the fruit salad with the pomegranate sprinkled over.
Brilliant wine matches
Your usual rose will complement the beef or try Margaret River Semillon/Sauvignon 2005 (£7.99, M&S) for a citrussy backdrop to the chilli and lime. For the fruit, the honeyed Hermits Hill Botrytis Semillon 2004 (£5.99, M&S) is ideal.