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Watermelon salad with prawns, quinoa, mint and parsleyIf you’re buying pre-cut watermelon, checking for ripeness is an easy task – the deeper the colour of the flesh, the riper the melon. Also check the skin to make sure there are no soft spots and have a sniff too – the melon should smell sweet and fresh with no signs of sourness. If buying a whole melon, a reliable indicator of ripeness is weight. As melons ripen, their water content increases, making the melon heavier. 
10 minutes prep. 
15 minutes cooking
Serves 4-6 as a light meal |
Ingredients
- 180 g quinoa
- Water
- 20 medium green prawns, peeled, cleaned, tails intact
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 500 g seedless watermelon, thinly sliced
- Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
- 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
- 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 cup each coarsely torn mint and flat-leaf parsley
- 2 spring onions thinly sliced
- Sumac, optional, to serve
Method
- Cook quinoa in a saucepan of boiling water for 10-12 minutes until tender, drain well and spread on a tray to cool to room temperature. Transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate until required.
- Meanwhile, heat a char-grill or barbecue to high heat, drizzle prawns with a little olive oil, season to taste and grill, turning once, until pink (1-2 minutes each side).
- Arrange on a serving plate with watermelon and season to taste.
- Combine lemon juice and garlic in a small bowl and stand for 5 minutes to soften the flavour of the garlic, add extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar and season to taste.
- Drizzle a little dressing over the watermelon and prawns.
- Add the remainder to the quinoa along with mint, parsley and spring onion.
- Toss to combine, check seasoning then scatter over watermelon and prawns and serve sprinkled with sumac.
