Name: Mango, Prawn and Avocado Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 500g cooked prawns, peeled and deveined, tails removed; 2 ripe mangoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces; 2 avocados, cut into bite-sized pieces; 1/2 small red onion, very finely sliced; 1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely sliced (optional); 1/2 cup coriander leaves, loosely packed; 2 cups baby spinach or mixed salad leaves; 3 tbsp lime juice (about 2 limes); 1 tbsp fish sauce; 1 tsp caster sugar; 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 small garlic clove, finely grated

This is a salad built for the first properly warm weekend of the year, when mangoes start turning up cheap and you don't want the oven or the stove going. Everything is either cooked already (the prawns) or needs no cooking at all, so the whole thing comes together on the bench in under half an hour.

The mango needs to be ripe but still holding its shape, not so soft it turns to mush when you cut it. Press the skin gently near the stem; it should give slightly. A just-ripe mango and a ripe-but-firm avocado give you two different kinds of sweetness and creaminess in the same bowl.

Buy prawns already cooked and peeled to keep this quick, or cook raw ones yourself in salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes if you want them warm through the salad. Either way, don't dress the salad until just before serving. The lime juice starts to soften the avocado and mango if it sits too long, and the whole thing loses its crunch.

This works as a light lunch on its own with some crusty bread, or as a side for something off the barbecue. It doesn't keep well made up, so treat it as a last-minute job rather than something to prep hours ahead.