The Spouse announced recently that he'd had a promotion and we were packing the bags and heading back home to Wellington. This was all rather out of the blue. We have just landscaped the yard of our charming townhouse and were looking forward to spending our evenings outside, sipping a local riesling, admiring the new garden, watching the plants grow.
Since the planting was completed about six weeks ago, we've had less than 10 evenings where we've been able to do just that. However, there hasn't been a great need to water the garden either. We are consoling ourselves that we still have a few weeks to enjoy the garden before we shift back to our Wellington home.
One unexpected recent balmy evening we went to visit friends for dinner. It had drizzled during the day but it fined up later and we ended up on their terrace sipping pre-dinner drinks and watching their cat loll about on the garden mulch.
They'd planned a barbecue but had a change of menu with the rainspots. Summer entertaining can be a pleasant, informal affair and our hostess produced a delicious meal that involved very little work in the kitchen. It was an easy prepare-ahead menu that involved only a few last minute touches - smoked salmon on melba toast circles, a chicken dish with banana salsa and a tossed green salad, accompanied by warm ciabatta bread, and a chocolate dessert cake with fresh raspberries. Perfect.
A banana salsa lends a tropical note to a meal and here is a recipe I developed some years back after I'd tasted something similar in the Caribbean. I had almost forgotten about it. I recommend leaving the skin on the chicken breast as it will keep the chicken moist during cooking.
Tropical Chicken
One half chicken breast per serving, boned but with skin on
1 large barely ripe banana
4 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1 small spring onion
1/4 cup passionfruit pulp (fresh or bottled)
sugar to taste
2 tablespoons oil (olive oil or half and half olive and walnut)
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