So basically last month Mr P and I went to Lisbon in Portugal.It was lovely, and friendly, and cheap, and lovely.  But…

It was unseasonably cold.

I wore the jeans I wore to the airport for pretty much the entire holiday.Shop assistants looked at me, shivering in my week-old-dirt-encrusted jeans, and apologised for the weather.Restaurant owners offered blankets to try and lure us into the alfresco dining areas.

It was unseasonably cold.

One day the sun came out and shone brightly and raised the temperature above 15 degrees and we found ourselves in an alfresco dining area.Complete with blanket.The lovely waitress heard my plight of wanting something like a salad, but not wanting something cold. And then the lovely waitress offered me this.

A hot salad.

And a perfect summer supper for places that might not have the sun beating down all season long.

Like Belfast.

Ahem.

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Cut the courgette into batons.

Cut the carrot into, erm, smaller batons.

Matchsticks, if you will.

Except these matchsticks are made from carrot.

Slice the pepper…

The mushrooms..

And the onion.

Open the tin of pineapple…

Then drain the pineapple juice into a jug.

Chop the pineapple into chunks.

And the steak into strips.

Whisk together the pineapple juice with the sweet chilli…

The vinegar…

The honey…

The soy…

And the cornflour.

Whisk.

Whisk.

Whisk.

Heat the oil in a wok.

Add the onions…

Then the beef.

After a few minutes, add the rest of the vegetables, stirring all the while.

Right at the end of cooking add the sauce…

And the pineapple, stirring well.

Serve.

A blanket for your lap is optional.

Warm beef salad

Serves 2. Cooking time 20 minutes.

2 ‘quickfry’ steaks

1 yellow pepper

1 courgette

1 onion

1 carrot

4 mushrooms

220g tin pineapple in juice

50ml sweet chilli sauce

50ml white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon cornflour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil.