roast broccoli and prawns

the beauty of this is that it's a one mixing bowl/one roasting dish kind of a meal. it's a great midweek supper - nothing to get overly excited about but a pleasant surprise in terms of taste and texture. if you use purple sprouting broccoli, the leaves will char and go crispy, which is a nice contrast to the soft broccoli and the meaty prawns.

i did think it needed something else, something more savoury in a way thai food is savoury. that sqeeze of lemon at the end goes some way in providing it but it's not quite enough. i may be tempted to douse it with fish sauce next time but i resist for now.

i think it's important to use raw prawns in this (defrosted, as we did) - the cooked ones won't taste the same.

ROAST BROCCOLI AND PRAWNS

for two

300g broccoli, purple sprouting or normal

250-300g rawn prawns

a handful of spinach leaves

5 tbs olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp chilli flakes or to taste

1/2 lemon, juice and zest

salt and pepper

preheat the oven to 220C.

in a large mizing bowl, toss the cumin, coriander, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and half of the oil together with the broccoli. spread in one layer in a roasting dish and put in the oven for 10 or 15 minutes, depending on how large your broccoli florets are.

put the prawns in the same bowl with the peel of half of lemon, the rest of the oil and a bit more salt and set aside while the broccoli is cooking.

toss the broccoli half way through its ten minutes. make sure it's almost soft and then chuck in the prawns and the oil, mixing it all together. cook for another 10 minutes or until the prawns are cooked (they will change colour to pink). take out of the oven, stir in the spinach and put back for a minute or less until the spinach has wilted. finally, squeeze over the lemon juice and serve.

we eat soup with it as well - carrot and squash spiked with chilli and cumin, with shredded leftover roast chicken and creme fraiche stirred in at the end.