Yeah, yeah –  I know they are not a fish but its Christmas and a lot of people will be eating them.

There are about 540 species of prawn in seven families. They differ from other similar crustaceans, such as the shrimp, by the branching form of the gills and they don’t brood their eggs but release them directly into the water.

They can grow to over 330mm and up to 450gms.

Prawn Salad from CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet

Serves eight people as an entrée.

• ½ bunch flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
• ½ bunch basil leaves
• 1 red chilli, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 800 g green prawns, peeled and de-veined
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
• 100 g green beans
• 16 spears asparagus, halved
• 100 g snow peas
• 100 g mixed salad greens
• 1 red capsicum (pepper), deseeded and thinly sliced
• juice of 1 lemon
• freshly ground black pepper.

Preparation

Place parsley, basil, chilli and garlic with oil in a food processor and blend until lightly chopped.

Transfer half the mixture to a mixing bowl.

Add prawns and toss to coat thoroughly.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 °C (400 °F).

Transfer remaining herb mixture to a shallow microwave-proof dish.

Add tomatoes, beans, asparagus and snow peas and toss to combine.

Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for three minutes, or until vegetables are just cooked.

Set aside and allow to cool slightly.

Transfer prawns to a baking tray and bake for ten minutes, or until cooked.

Remove from oven and tip prawns and cooking juices into cooling vegetables.

Add mixed greens and toss to combine.

Serve

To serve, squeeze over lemon juice and season with pepper.