Figs with gorgonzola cream

A main course salad. You can use any soft blue cheese for this, but it must be very ripe and easy to cream.

For the gorgonzola cream:

2 ripe figs per person
2 large handfuls of spicy leaves such as rocket, watercress and mizuna

Dressing for 4

ripe gorgonzola - 250g
double cream - 100-150ml
1 tsp white wine vinegar

Put the cheese in a mixing bowl and mash it with a fork. Stir in enough of the cream to give a creamy, slightly lumpy sauce. It should be thick enough that you can spread it. Add the vinegar. Cut the figs in half or quarters depending on their size. Divide the salad leaves between four plates, add the figs and a spoonful or two of the gorgonzola cream.

Seared beef

Most Asian shops carry the Japanese seasoning nanami togarashi seasoning. It is a mixture of ground chilli, orange peel and several other spices including sesame seeds. For this beef salad it is simply a question of rolling the beef in the seasoning and searing it quickly in a heavy pan. The beef is barely cooked and is eaten thinly sliced like carpaccio. There will be some beef left over for tomorrow.

Serves 4 as a light main dish (serve with tomato and a spicy leaf salad)

a little olive oil
3 tsps nanami togarashi seasoning
500g fillet of beef

For the tomato salad:

6 large, ripe tomatoes
olive oil - 75ml
red wine vinegar - 2 tbs
a pinch of sugar
a handful of coriander leaves

Roll the fillet of beef in a little olive oil then dust with the Japanese seasoning. Warm a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow pan, then, once it starts to sizzle brown the beef on all sides. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate for two hours.

Slice the tomatoes thinly. Lay them on a serving plate. Make the dressing by mixing the olive oil, red wine vinegar, and a good pinch of sugar. Stir in the coriander. Spoon the dressing over the tomatoes. Remove the beef from the fridge and slice very, very thinly. It should be as thin as you can get it. Lay the beef on plates and serve with the tomato salad.

Prawn ceviche

You could make this with raw prawns, but I prefer to give them the briefest dip in boiling water first, then let the acid in the marinade do the cooking for me.

Serves 2 as a main salad

large prawns, uncooked - 12
a large, just ripe avocado
a pink grapefruit
spring onions - 4
medium hot chillies - 2

For the marinade:

the juice of 3 limes
olive oil - 2 tbs
a small bunch of coriander leaves

Put a large pan of water on to boil. Salt it generously then dunk the prawns into the water. Drain the prawns.

Remove the shells and heads from the prawns. Cut the flesh of each prawn down the back and pull out the black vein that lies just below the surface. This is actually part of the prawn's digestive tract and needs removing. Rinse the prawns briefly in cold water and put them in a glass, china or stainless steel bowl.

Make the dressing. Mix the juice of the limes with the olive oil, and a good seasoning if salt. Finely slice the chilli, remove the seeds of you wish, then add to the dressing.

Tip the dressing over the prawns. Leave in a cool place for 4 hours. Peel the grapefruit with a sharp knife. Remove the segments, making sure there is no white pith on them. Add any escaping juice to the marinade. Thinly slice the spring onions. Peel and thickly slice the avocado. Toss all the ingredients together. Stir in a good handful of coriander leaves. Serve thoroughly chilled.

Crab and watermelon

I usually spend a good while picking the flesh from a freshly cooked crab, but if you have a good source of spanking fresh, ready-prepared crab meat then I should go for it. I wouldn't even think of using the frozen stuff from the supermarket here.

Serves 2 as a main dish

a large crab
a little lime juice
600g watermelon

For the dressing:

rice vinegar - 50mls
sugar - 1 tbs
a small, hot chilli
grated zest of a lime and the juice of 2
a tsp fish sauce

Put the rice vinegar and sugar into a small pan and bring to the boil. When the sugar has dissolved remove from the heat, stir in the chilli, lime juice and fish sauce and set aside to cool.

Remove the flesh from the crab, season with a little salt, pepper and lime juice and keep cool. Slice the watermelon into fat chunks, removing the seeds as you go. Toss with the lime dressing. Serve the melon salad with the fresh crabmeat, keeping everything as chilled as possible.