Asian Prawn and Pineapple Rainbow Salad

Nothing says summer more than a prawn salad, and nothing says tropical more than a pineapple. Here's a really quick and easy salad which will have your tastebuds tingling in no time.

No cooking whatsoever, just a bit of chopping and slicing. In fact the longest part of it will probably be carving out the boat from the pineapple but even that is pretty straight-forward. However you could just buy pineapple cubes and serve it all up in a matter of minutes but then it doesn't look as impressive as when it's served in the pineapple shell.

The colourful ingredients will also be a feast for the eyes (hence the name) but it is also a rainbow of flavours combined together: sweet, sour and spicy, with a freshness from the mint and coriander. Each mouthful of soft, juicy pineapple is complemented by a firm, tasty prawn and a crisp, crunchy vegetable, and rounded off with a sweet, zesty, refreshing aftertaste, leaving a spicy kick at the end. Only one way to treat that spiciness: another mouthful of refreshing pineapple!

The pineapple will be very sweet and also contains a lot of citric acid so when choosing a wine to go with it, make sure you go for something sweet like a semillon, sauvignon blanc or a riesling. These also tend to go well with spicy food.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
- A whole large pineapple
- 16 large cooked prawns, off the shell
- Half a cucumber, seeds scooped out and diced into inch size cubes
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- Half a red pepper cut into small square pieces
- 20g beansprouts uncooked
- Half a red onion finely diced
- A red chillie de-seeded and thinly sliced
- 4 sprigs of mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
- A small handful of coriander finely chopped
- A handful of cashew nuts


Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- half a teaspoon of brown sugar
- An inch of ginger, skinned and sliced into thin strips

1. Half the pineapple lengthways, score the flesh all the way around the rim of the pineapple but be careful not to cut through the skin. Then deeply cut the flesh into cubes. You should now be able to spoon out the meat quite easily and scrape out the rest.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well.
3. Make the dressing in a seperate bowl, and be sure to dissolve the sugar. Add to the mixing bowl and mix it all together well. Scoop into the carved out pineapple and serve with a glass of chilled Riesling.