Summer Salad with Prawns and Fried Plantains

This colorful salad with prawns and fried plantains is a must try!

My parents were firm advocates for growing our own vegetables. When we were kids, my siblings and I used to be exposed to a wide variety of vegetables and were indeed not as picky as my kids. Our parents encouraged us to eat everything on our plates. Hence the command “eat your vegetables” certainly didn’t relate to us since vegetable eating was part of our lifestyle.

Vegetables were a crucial part of our everyday diet. We often feasted on locally grown, common vegetables like carrots, avocados, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, watercress, tomatoes, and spinach. We enjoyed many of these vegetables during breakfast and lunch, and they were rarely used on their own as a stand-alone meal since they were not very filling to us. They were often paired with bread, bakes, and provisions like dasheen, tania, yams, green bananas, and plantains.

In this salad, I added a Caribbean staple, fried plantains. It helps make the mixture a little more filling and balances the plate by adding more texture and a sweet and savory taste. Fried plantain is so versatile that it can be a star on any meal like this salad. This combination salad with prawns and fried plantains may be rare, but it’s one of my favorites. You can also substitute the prawns for headless shrimps and any other protein. Other items on this plate that can be replaced is the golden beets for red.

In Dominica, beets in a salad aren’t very common since they’re not widely grown and available. When I was growing up, they were not common in my area, and golden beets were even rarer. The golden beets, just like the plantain, offer a more substantial meal and helps make this salad more wholesome. Did I also mention that beets are one of my favorite vegetables?

I love adding a protein side to my vegetable salads. It makes me feel like I’m eating a full meal. Seafood is one of my favorites to add, second is chicken breast. For this salad, I chose prawns prepared in a light curry, coconut sauce.

The prawns with the head attached give it the looks that I remember when we would catch crawfish in the river next to our house. We discarded the head since it’s considered less nutritional. However, I love it for its authenticity and look.

I hope that you’ll try this lovely satisfying summer fun salad with prawns and fried plantains. Check out this easy recipe. If you’d like to take it up a notch, add some goat cheese.