Debbie & Andy's Bank Holiday Tea — Garlic Prawns, Air Fryer Salmon & Mediterranean Couscous

In the North of England, the evening meal is tea. Not dinner — tea. It doesn't matter how many courses it has, how long it took to make, or whether there's a starter and a dessert. It's tea. Bank Holiday Monday, Rochdale, just the two of them. Debbie made three courses.

This is what a proper Bank Holiday tea looks like when Debbie's cooking — garlic prawns to start, air fryer salmon with Mediterranean couscous salad and a chopped salad alongside, hard boiled eggs and vine tomatoes on the table, fruit salad with lime to finish. Nothing complicated. Nothing that required a recipe book. Just good food, properly done, on a Monday evening in Rochdale.

Serves 2

Starter — Garlic Prawns

Classic gambas al ajillo in everything but name. King prawns, olive oil, garlic, chilli flakes, a wide pan, and five minutes. The kind of starter that looks considerably more impressive than the effort involved.

Ingredients

• 300g raw peeled king prawns
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 4-5 garlic cloves, lightly crushed or sliced
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• Salt
• Squeeze of lemon to finish
• Crusty bread to serve

Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook until fragrant — about a minute. Add the prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes until pink and curled. Season, finish with a squeeze of lemon, and serve immediately in the pan.

Main — Air Fryer Salmon with Mediterranean Couscous Salad

The air fryer salmon is the simplest thing on the table — salt, pepper, a little olive oil, ten minutes. The couscous does the heavy lifting. Debbie's version is built on a chicken stock cube base with cucumber, red onion, radish, red and orange pepper, celery, coriander, chickpeas and sweetcorn. It's a meal in itself — the salmon sits alongside rather than on top of it.

Air Fryer Salmon

• 2 salmon fillets, skinless
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and black pepper

Pat the salmon dry, rub with olive oil, season well. Air fry at 200°C for 10-12 minutes until cooked through and lightly golden.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

• 200g couscous
• 1 chicken stock cube, made up to 250ml boiling water
• ½ cucumber, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
• 4-5 radishes, sliced
• ½ red pepper, diced
• ½ orange pepper, diced
• 2 sticks celery, sliced
• Small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 tin chickpeas, drained
• Handful of sweetcorn, tinned and drained
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Salt and black pepper

Pour the hot stock over the couscous, cover and leave for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and leave to cool slightly. Add all the vegetables, chickpeas, sweetcorn and coriander. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice, season well and toss to combine.

Alongside

• Chopped salad — Chinese/iceberg lettuce, sweetcorn, cucumber, red and orange pepper, radish, red onion; dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper
• Hard boiled eggs, halved
• Vine tomatoes, served as they are

Dessert — Fruit Salad with Lime

No recipe needed. Watermelon, strawberries, green grapes, apple, blueberries, raspberries, clementine segments. A squeeze of lime over everything. Left to sit for twenty minutes so the juices run together. That's it.

Footnote:
This air fryer salmon recipe is featured in my From the Family Kitchen, a collection of family recipes from real kitchens across the UK and Spain, and in my Fish & Seafood Recipes, a collection of proper fish and seafood cooking.
Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef