Asian Pineapple Lollipops and Other Easy Holiday Recipes

Van Boven will continue to take care of you this summer. With extremely simple holiday food, which you can prepare in your holiday home, caravan or tent. With as few pans as possible (I stick to one pan as much as possible), no ingredients from the kitchen cupboard at home and with groceries that can usually be found at every (super)market. For six weeks I will give you recipes for an easy main course, a salad or starter or lunch dish and a dessert or drink.

Sweet-spicy salad of shrimp, mango and cucumber

Preferably use unpeeled shrimp for this salad, preferably even just off the grill. But pre-cooked from the fish shop is also fine. I like peeling myself and licking your fingers. A bit of a hassle, but much more flavor than the peeled boys. But if you don’t like that mess, don’t do it.

Cut the cucumber lengthwise, place the two halves cut-side down on the board and tap the skin with the pestle of the mortar or something heavy. This way they bruise a bit and absorb more dressing and flavor. Cut them in half again lengthwise and then cut them into cubes.

In a large bowl, whisk together a dressing of the honey, fish sauce, and lime zest and juice.

Mix the cucumber and mango pieces into the dressing and let stand for a while. Spoon the prawns on top and sprinkle with coriander, mint and chili flakes.

Lukewarm green soba noodles

Soba noodles are nice and savory and retain a good bite. I like to eat them cold, but they are also delicious lukewarm. Use any vegetables you have for the filling: I use bimi or broccoli here, but green beans (in pieces), peas or sugar snaps are just as good. Be tempted by the fresh vegetables from the market stall.

Bring a pan of well salted water to a boil. Blanch the bimi briefly until the stems are just al dente. They will continue to cook when they come out of the water. Remove the stems from the pan and set them aside. Add the noodles to the cooking water and cook over low heat until al dente. Drain, then add a drop of oil to loosen the noodles. Keep the noodles with the bimi.

Mix the tahini or peanut butter with the honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, three quarters of the coriander and 60 to 100 ml water (dash by splash) to a not too thin dressing in a wide bowl. Mix in the zucchini slices and let them stand for 15 minutes to wilt.

Stir in the noodles with the bimi. Taste and season with additional soy sauce if necessary. Sprinkle with cashew nuts and the rest of the coriander.

Pineapple lollipop with chili sugar

If you don’t feel like roasting the pineapple, you can also just serve fresh pineapple with chili sugar. Addictive delicious. I was served it once after a canoe trip on an island in Thailand and have been making it regularly ever since.

Peel the pineapple. First remove the crown on top and cut the bottom straight. Place the pineapple upright on a board and cut off the thick skin from top to bottom. Then cut it into quarters. Remove the hard core and cut the fat quarters in half again so that you have 8 equal parts. Press them well onto sticks and grill them on the barbecue over medium heat until they start to caramelize.

Halve the pepper and remove the seeds. Chop him fine. Mix with the sugar and salt. If you have a mortar with you on holiday, you can also grind the pepper in the mortar to a fine crumb as possible.

Dip the pineapple in the spicy sugar and serve.

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