King Prawn Salad in a French Toast Basket

For lunch today, I had this absolutely delicious King prawn salad in a French toast basket. The idea for same came to me only minutes before I began preparing it but the result was everything I could have hoped for and more. I very much hope that it is something which you will try out for yourself.

Ingredients

2 slices of bread
1 large egg
8 to 10 King prawns (cooked and shelled)
2 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1 tsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley (plus one leaf for garnish)
1 clove of garlic (optional)
2 fresh lettuce leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put your oven on to preheat to maximum. Break the egg in to a small bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Beat it until it just begins to froth. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut each slice in half.

A small oven-proof dish is required for this next stage but - unable to find one of the size I desired - I simply used the lid of a small casserole dish! The inside of the dish should be greased with butter. Each piece of bread should in turn be dipped in the egg mix and used to evenly line the inside of the dish. Any small gaps can be filled with the crusts, dipped in the remaining egg mix. The dish should then be placed in to the hot oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes until the bread is cooked and golden.

The King prawn salad is made simply by roughly chopping the prawns and mixing them carefully in to the mayonnaise, along with the chopped parsley. A clove of crushed garlic may also be added at this stage if desired. The lettuce leaves should be washed and carefully dried.

When the French toast basket is ready, it should be removed from the oven and left to cool for a few minutes. A blunt tipped knife should then be used to very gently ease the sides of the basket away from the dish and the basket hopefully tipped out on to a plate in one piece. The two lettuce leaves should be placed in the bottom of the basket. It may then be filled with the King prawn salad, garnished with the remaining parsley leaf and served.

Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche Baguette

There are certain days, of course, when the simple sandwich is all that we either have time to prepare for lunch or simply that which we desire. What we should try to do, however, is try to avoid comprising our sandwich of such as processed meats or cheeses. We should attempt to make our sandwich as healthy as well as tasty as possible and what better way to do so than by making it with delicious smoked salmon.

Ingredients

1 French baguette or equivalent
2oz of smoked salmon
Generous handful of fresh rocket leaves
2 tbsp low fat creme fraiche
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Slice the baguette in half horizontally as shown and arrange the rocket leaves on the bottom half. Add the smoked salmon, creme fraiche and black pepper in that order. Place the top on and slice.

How simple is this? I promise, however, that it is also both incredibly tasty and a very healthy choice for lunch today or any day.