Dinner outside for one, alone.

Groovy noodles.

In summer and spring, when everyone else is out (or in bed!), this is a dinner I like all to myself. I have it in a big bowl and sit outside with a book. This meal relies on those thin cellophane noodles you can get in Asian stores or the bigger supermarkets. My local branch of Lidl has them and I bulk buy because I love these so much.

Just cook as many cellophane rice noodles as you think you would eat. They will take seconds in boiling water, so don't turn your back. Take them out, drain them and rinse them in cold water and set to one side.

The list that follows is endlessly variable. This is, essentially, a Thai or South East Asian noodle salad. The hot and sour kick of the dressing is what I crave. So try this.

1 big handful of prawns, fresh or defrosted. I tend to use the little ones here
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
Half a fresh red chilli, very finely chopped. Use what you have, but I suppose a Thai Bird's Eye chili would be good here. Proceed with caution: these guys are HOT.
2 spring onions, finely chopped

And I know I may have said elsewhere that I like tomatoes all on their own and not mixed in with other things for a salad -- but here's my exception. As long as you make this and eat it straight away. Four or five firm cherry tomatoes, finely chopped.

A small handful of coriander and --or-- if you can get it, half a small handful of Thai basil. Plus the same of fresh mint, finely chopped. As you see, I like my herbs and I like to be grabbed by them sometimes -- not just stroked. (At which point in my figurative language, I should stop.)

I know people have said that you can substitute the the other kind of basil but I don't think it works. There's something so fiercely aromatic about the former that is so right here in this salad and in a true love of mine, Vietnamese Pho: a noodle broth to which are added handfuls of fresh herbs.

Make a dressing from 1 tablespoon of nam pla (Thai fish sauce) and two tablespoons of lemon juice.

Just put everything in a bowl and toss gently with the dressing. And eat all alone. Probably just as well, as you're eating raw garlic and a number of powerful flavours here.

I don't believe I ate anything that gave me these flavours until I was nineteen and went travelling in Thailand. I suppose I was aware of my uncle's 'Tulsi' (holy basil) supari mix (I cannot say I have developed a love of betel nut and tulsi --but the smell is transporting for me). I got hooked. It's that mix of sour, hot, sweet and savoury, balanced with wonderfully aromatic herbs.