Summer snacking: three recipes that are light and delicious

Whip up some mango sago, zoodles with home-made pesto or a sharing-style platter with beef, potatoes and chimichurri sauce

Mango sago. Photo: Soha Darwish

Try your hand at these three original recipes that use plenty of fresh, light and nutritious ingredients, ideal to eat on scorching summer days.

Prawns zoodles with rocket pesto

Serves 4

Zoodles have snuck into our meals for obvious reasons: they are a brilliant carbs substitute, simple to make, and blend perfectly into our favourite dishes and salads. So naturally, it became a strong contender on my list of fresh summery ingredients.

Ingredients and method for wild rocket pesto

50g wild rocket

1 garlic clove

25g pine nuts

½ lemon, juiced

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

25g Parmesan, grated

Pinch of coarse salt

• Combine all the ingredients in a blender until they achieve a pesto-like consistency (slightly textured, not uniformly smooth is best)

Ingredients and method for the zoodle mix

1 large zucchini

100g baby spinach leaves

Salt and pepper, to taste

Extra virgin olive oil, to taste

250g medium prawns, cooked and peeled

5 pink radishes, sliced

150g cherry tomatoes, halved

Handful of green or black pitted olives

To garnish

100g ricotta cheese

Parmesan shavings

• Using a zoodle maker tool, turn your zucchini into zoodles.
• In a bowl, mix the zoodles and baby spinach leaves lightly with 1 tbsp of pesto, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
• Lay the zoodle mix on a large platter, then top with the rest of ingredients.
• Finish with dollops of pesto and ricotta cheese, and top with Parmesan shavings.

Garden of Eden platter

Serves 4

Here’s a healthy meal for all the family to enjoy together on a sharing platter.

Ingredients and method for the chimichurri sauce

1 bunch of parsley

1 bunch of coriander

2 shallots or ½ onion

¼ cup white vinegar

2 garlic cloves

1 red chilli, deseeded

A drizzle of olive oil

• Combine all the ingredient in a blender until smooth.

Ingredients and method for the platter

200g plain yoghurt

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp sour cream

Salt and pepper, to taste

Pinch of sumac

1kg new baby potatoes, unpeeled

Olive oil

500g beef steaks fillets, medium cooked then cut into slices

200g kale, chopped

Handful of toasted pine nuts

Handful of pomegranate seeds

1 tbsp honey

• Mix the yoghurt with sour cream and tahini. Season with salt, pepper and sumac.
• Boil the new potatoes until cooked. Rub with olive oil and salt, then roast in the oven until golden and crispy. Lay over the yoghurt mixture.
• Grill the beef steaks any way you like (I prefer pan-grilled), then slice into strips and scatter over the roasted potatoes.
• Fry the kale in hot oil until crispy (it tastes amazing and is easier to chew, especially for children) and place over the beef.
• Drizzle the chimichurri sauce generously over everything and put some in a small bowl in the centre of your platter.
• Garnish with sprinkles of toasted pine nuts and pomegranate seeds.

Mango sago

Serves 4

End on a sweet note with this underrated pudding, which is at once exotic and easy to make. Sago seeds are available in most UAE supermarkets.

Ingredients

1 cup sago seeds

½ cup sweetened condensed milk

½ cup coconut cream or full fat milk

1 tsp vanilla essence or extract

3 mangoes, cut in cubes

Fresh mint leaves

Method

• Boil the sago pearls in water until they turn into transparent gelatinous orbs. Pour the cooked sago into a bowl of cold water, then strain and set aside.
• In a blender, pour the condensed milk, coconut milk and vanilla essence together with the mango cubes (leave some for the garnish). Blend until it achieves a thick smooth consistency. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

Assembly

Sago is traditionally eaten in a bowl, although you can also layer it on a platter. Lay the chilled thick mango mixture, then spread the sago pearls over it followed by the mango cubes and some mint leaves for a vibrant colour contrast.