the accompaniment to my asparagus, green bean and raw mushroom salad was equally delicious and equally summery – double tomato tuna carpaccio.

it was actually the starting point for the meal and was developed from a recipe that i found in a copy of the new zealand magazine cuisine, which a friend from work leant to me. the magazine was full of ideas for delicious summery food and i intend to try out a few of their recipes in the coming weeks.

the tuna was sushi grade and i marinaded it in lime juice for 20 minutes (turning over half way through, sprinkling each side with a bit of sea salt as i went) before slicing it thinly across the grain. this was laid out on a large flat plate and i then mixed the leftover lime juice with chopped tomatoes, thinly sliced sundried tomatoes, a thinly sliced shallot and cubed avocado. this was arranged on top of the tuna, drizzled with olive oil and finished with a sprinkling of chopped coriander.

the flavours worked really well and i particularly liked the contrast between the slightly sweet and chewy sundered tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients. if you try this and are wondering what wine to choose go for something floral – we had a gewürztraminer (torres vina esmeralda) blend which worked wonderfully with the food.