SALADS

A simple salad becomes a light meal when you introduce cooked meat, seafood or poultry. Here are a few delicious salad recipies to enjoy on your boating trips.

Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients (Serves 3)

400g lean rump, or fillet of beef
Olive or canola oil spray

Dressing

Juice of 2 limes (or 1/3 cup of lemon juice)
1 tablespoon caster sugar dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped mint
1 tablespoon chopped coriander

Salad

6 lettuce leaves, shredded
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 small cucumber, sliced
1 small red onion, finely sliced into rings
2 radishes, thinly sliced
8 mint leaves
8 coriander leaves
Red chilli, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

Method

Cook the beef steak until medium rare and rest for a few minutes.
Slice the beef into thin strips. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over the beef.
Mix salad ingredients together. Top with beef and dressing.
Serve immediately.

Chicken and Green Salad

Ingredients (Serves 3)

2 skinless chicken breast fillets (about 300 g)
1 large clove garlic, crushed
3 heads of varied lettuce varieties eg rocket, iceberg, radicchio
2 tablespoons butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small lemon
3 spring onions, finely sliced
250 g button mushrooms, thinly sliced

Dressing

½ cup light sour cream
½ cup plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Cut chicken into strips. Place chicken and garlic in a bowl. Stir to combine. Chill, covered, 1 hour. Tear lettuce into small pieces. Place in a large bowl.
Pre-heat the Marinyaki plate to medium. Melt the butter on the plate and cook the chicken pieces golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
To make dressing, whisk sour cream, yoghurt, oil, vinegar and mustard in a bowl until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir dressing into salad greens. Distribute salad greens among serving plates.
Peel thin strips of rind from lemon. Place chicken, spring onions, mushrooms and lemon rind on top of salad greens.

Crispy Calamari Salad

Ingredients (Serves 3)

500 g calamari rings
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small head cos lettuce

Method

Place calamari, garlic and parsley in a bowl. Add oil, wine, salt and pepper. Mix together, cover and marinate in refrigerator about 2 hours.
Tear lettuce into pieces and arrange on individual plates. Halve tomatoes, remove seeds and finely dice.
Heat barbecue or preheat grill to medium heat. Cook calamari on barbecue or under grill about 3 minutes, turning occasionally. Place on salad and serve while hot.

SKEWERS

The Marinyaki plate cooks skewers to perfection and they are the perfect pre-dinner offering or make a light meal in themselves when served with a salad and bread.

Experiment with your own combinations but here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Mini Prawn Skewers

Ingredients

40 green prawns, peeled & deveined
1 stem lemon grass, white section only, finely chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, centre veins removed, finely shredded
1 tbs palm sugar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbs finely grated fresh ginger

Method

Combine the prawns, lemon grass, lime leaves, sugar, garlic and ginger in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 3 hours to allow the flavours to infuse.
Thread each prawn lenthways, tail-end first, onto a small bamboo skewer. Preheat the Marinyaki plate to medium. Cook half the prawns on the plate for 1-2 minutes each side or until they change colour. Move these to the outer edge of the plate to keep warm or invite your guests to pick them straight off the plate. Repeat with the remaining prawns.

Summer Skewers

Ingredients

440 g can of unsweetened pineapple pieces
2 tablespoons salt-reduced soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon grated ginger
500 g beef, steak or other meat such as
pork, lamb or chicken
1 green capsicum
1 onion
½ punnet cherry tomatoes
10 mushrooms

Method

Drain the pineapple pieces and save the juice. In a bowl, mix together 1/3 cup pineapple juice, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Trim the meat of any fat and cut into cubes. Add meat cubes to the marinade liquid in the bowl. Toss covering well and allow to stand for an hour.
Chop the capsicum and onion into cubes and cut the mushrooms in half. Thread the skewers; first a piece of meat, then pineapple, capsicum, onion, cherry tomato ect.
Pre-heat the Marinyaki plate to medium. Cook, turning twice until cooked through and browned.

Balsamic Strawberry Skewers

Ingredients

2/3 cup mascarpone, at room temperature
2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture
2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
32 strawberries, hulled, washed
olive oil cooking spray

Method

Combine mascarpone, icing sugar and orange rind in a bowl. Place brown sugar, vinegar and 2 tablespoons water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Thread strawberries onto 8 skewers. Brush with vinegar mixture.
Preheat the Marinyaki plate to medium. Spray skewers with oil. Cook, turning, for 1 to 2 minutes or until strawberries are just tender and brown. Drizzle with remaining vinegar mixture. Serve with mascarpone mixture.