When I lived at home my mum would always make a starter of halved avocado filled with prawns and a garlic French dressing for special occasions. I decided to bring this starter up to date by fanning the slices onto a plate and using Balsamic instead of white wine vinegar and walnut instead of olive oil. The marriage of avocado, prawns, garlic and balsamic vinegar are a match made in heaven. I hadn’t made this dish for years and on giving it to my husband for lunch the other day he was extremely pleased and said “this really works”. If you can push the boat out for the Walnut Oil it’s well worth it as it goes so well and I also use it to make cakes with instead of olive oil, otherwise just use olive oil! (I must admit I bought mine in a sale!) I think this makes the perfect light lunch or would be great as a starter at Christmas and any leftover dressing is excellent on salad. There is probably enough dressing for 8 servings if you are scaling this recipe up.
I was also sent the Oxo Good Grips 3-in-1 avocado slicer this week and it worked a treat. It cuts, it de-stones and it slices, a fab new gadget!
I am entering this dish into Javelin Warrior’s Made with Love Mondays Challenge.
First make the dressing by shaking all the ingredients together.
Then prepare the avocado.
Arrange the avlocado slices in a fan shape.
Arrange the prawn on top and pour on the dressing.
Enjoy!
Enjoy with some buttered wholemeal bread!
- 1 Avocado
- 60g Frozen prawns (thawed)
- For Balsamic Dressing:
- 4 Tbsp Walnut oil
- 2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 2 Cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 Small pinches sea salt flakes
- Freshly ground pepper
- Put all the dressing ingredients into a salad dressing shaker, season to taste and shake vigorously.
- Prepare avocado by cutting in half, removing stone, skinning and cutting into slices.
- Arrange avocado slices on plates or small dishes.
- Decorate with the prawns and then pour over as much dressing as you wish.
- Serve with buttered wholemeal bread.
Disclaimer: I was sent the Oxo Good Grips 3 in 1 Slicer and have not received any payment from Oxo.
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12 comments
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Jacqueline @How to be a Gourmand
22/11/2012 at 7:33 am (UTC 1) Link to this comment
A classic starter with a lovely twist Camilla – don’t think I’ve tried walnut and balsamic together.
I must say your avocado slices are very nicely presented. Half the time when I cut them the ends get a wee bit squidgy. Looks like you are making good use of your gadget
Camilla
22/11/2012 at 10:59 am (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thank you Jacqueline, the walnut oil really married off well with the avocado and has such a smooth subtle flavour. I’m loving the gadget as my daughter loves avocado so it goes in most salads we have as she’s not keen on tomatoes or lettuce!
Jen
22/11/2012 at 6:53 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I picked up some reduced price avocados a couple of days ago and just waiting for them to ripen up. Not decided what to do with them yet but this is a strong contender. Haven’t had prawns for ages as OH doesn’t like them. Great update on a classic combination
Camilla
22/11/2012 at 9:19 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Sometimes you just have to make what you want or you’d never eat it Jen. I know this from experience!
Mich - Piece of Cake
23/11/2012 at 5:14 am (UTC 1) Link to this comment
I love all the ingredients involved… prawns, balsamic and avocados. I could eat a plateful, never mind the calories…
Camilla
23/11/2012 at 9:20 am (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks Mich, I actually think this dish is not that high in calories compared to say prawn cocktail and the fats are good fats from the avocado and walnut oil so very healthy!
Laura@howtocookgoodfood
24/11/2012 at 7:25 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
You know these are the flavours I never tire of. I have always loved prawns and avocado for as long as I can remember and pairing them with a rich and nutty dressing is the best idea for these ingredients. I’d like some lovely bread to dip into that sauce…..mopping up the juices is essential!
Camilla
24/11/2012 at 7:38 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thank you for your intelligent appraisal:-)
Karen
24/11/2012 at 8:14 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
A classic is always in fashion and I also love your modem days twist too! I have still got to test my Oxo pineapple corer yet….fun! Karen
Camilla
24/11/2012 at 8:27 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks Karen! We must be psychically connected Karen because I was just thinking about the time Oxo offered you the pineapple corer in a tweet and how I hadn’t seen it used on your blog yet – spooky!
Javelin Warrior
25/11/2012 at 3:43 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thanks so much for sharing this delicious appetizer with Made with Love Mondays – I love the contrast in color and texture between the avocado and prawns…
Camilla
25/11/2012 at 4:14 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Thank you Mark always a pleasure to enter your challenge!