purple potato salad

I like to use new and purple potatoes in this salad, but if you can’t find any purple ones, just use all new. But do try to hunt them down — they’re great!

SERVES 6

Make the dressing by mixing 6 tablespoons of olive oil with the lemon juice and crème fraîche. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 20 minutes, or until tender, then drain well. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, rub off the skins with a knife and slice into bite-sized pieces. Toss in the dressing, add the radishes and herbs, then season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

my new best salad

This salad is one of the best things that’s happened to me this year. Really tasty, really clean and fresh. I haven’t yet given it to anyone who didn’t absolutely love it. The recipe uses tarragon instead of any other salad leaf. This is quite shocking for me, as I’ve always been scared of tarragon! It’s a potent herb, but used aggressively and strongly like it is here it really works well. With the sweetness of the grapes and the saltiness of the goat’s cheese, it’s fantastic. If you can’t get hold of enough tarragon, feel free to bulk the salad out with some rocket. This will be fine – but tarragon on its own is so amazing, you must try it some time.

SERVES 4

The first job is to put the finely sliced shallots and vinegar together in a dish, making sure that the shallots are all covered by the vinegar. If the shallot slices are nice and thin they will need only about 10 to 15 minutes in the vinegar for the desired effect — they will be just like crunchy pickled onions when they’re done.

Keep all the ingredients in the fridge until your guests are around the table. Crack open a bottle of crisp white wine for them, then get started. Throw the tarragon leaves into a bowl, add the grapes, the shallots with only 5 tablespoons of their vinegar, and the 6 tablespoons of oil. Toss this all together, taste it and add a little sea salt and black pepper if needed. Go easy on the salt though, as the cheese will be quite salty. Use some tongs to pick up the salad and divide it between 4 plates. Grate or crumble the goat’s cheese on top of each salad and drizzle over any leftover dressing. You’ll love it!

‘when you’re shopping keep your eyes peeled. get stuck in, pick stuff up, grope it, smell it. trust your instincts … if it’s good, buy it!’
‘when you’re shopping keep your eyes peeled. get stuck in, pick stuff up, grope it, smell it. trust your instincts … if it’s good, buy it!’

broad bean & crispy pancetta salad with a pea, pecorino & mint dressing

Even though this salad’s really simple and really tasty, it’s also quite a brave dish because it hasn’t got lots of leaves everywhere — just some beautiful ingredients put together with a little common sense. It’s one of those combos that makes the back of your mouth juice up when you think about it. Ideally use young peas and broad beans when they’re in season. If they’re a little older then take the skins off the beans, and if the peas are large it doesn’t really matter as you’ll be mushing them up anyway.

SERVES 4

Preheat the oven to full whack (250°C/475°F/gas 9). Bring a pan of water to the boil, but avoid adding salt as this will make the broad beans and peas toughen up. Add the garlic clove and allow the water to boil for a couple of minutes before adding the broad beans. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how young the beans are. Simply taste one to check. If you feel the skins are a little tough, which they can be sometimes, let them cool a little, then peel them very quickly by pinching and squeezing the bean out. Throw the skins away, and keep the garlic clove to one side. Place the pancetta on a baking tray, with the almonds spread out next to it. Place in the oven, keeping an eye on the almonds to make sure they don’t colour too much. You should be able to crisp up the pancetta at the same time as toasting the almonds, but simply remove one or the other if it is getting too far ahead.

To make the dressing, put the raw podded peas and the soft, boiled garlic clove into a pestle and mortar or a food processor and bash or blitz until smooth. Add the cheese and most of the mint and stir or pulse to a paste. You want to turn this into a thick dressing, so add 8 tablespoons of oil and 4 to 5 tablespoons of lemon juice, to your preference. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper — it should have an amazing flavour of sweet peas, twangy lemon, fragrant mint and a softness and roundness from the cheese. I generally like mine to be a bit more lemony, to cut through the smokiness of the pancetta.

Mix the dressing with the broad beans and sprinkle this over 4 plates. Crumble over the pancetta, followed by a sprinkling of the almonds, which can be crushed or bashed up a little. Tear a little mint over the top with a little shaved Parmesan, if you like.

Try this: Fry the pancetta and just as it starts to get crispy add some sliced garlic to the pan, along with a handful of small shrimps or prawns, then the almonds. Carry on as before.

And this: Mush everything up and spread over some bruschetta or crostini or even some melba toast for a lovely snack.

Or this: Simply spoon over some steamed fish.

moorish crunch salad

This is a lovely little Moorish salad which gets the old taste buds going — but more to the point, it’s refreshingly crunchy and is right at home as a nice side salad or with a barbecue. You know, sometimes you haven’t got salad leaves in your fridge, but you will probably have a couple of carrots and apples, and by getting on the Moorish vibe and using mint and tahini (a paste made out of sesame seeds which you can find in most supermarkets), I’ve pulled together this little combo. The reason I’ve stated that you should slice some ingredients and have matchsticks for others is because this really adds to the crunch. You can always use the coarse side of a grater for speed (see page 30).

SERVES 4

First of all, finely slice the carrots into matchsticks (see page 266). Finely slice the radishes — you can leave a little of the tops on, if you like. Quarter the apples, remove the cores and finely slice. Add all these to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients, apart from the sesame seeds. Toss together, carefully checking the seasoning, and serve with the sesame seeds sprinkled over the top. Eat straight away.

Try this: Turn it into a warm salad by adding some pan-seared chicken, prawns or scallops which have been dusted with a little paprika.

And this: Make it more substantial by frying some halloumi until golden with some chopped fresh chilli and tearing this over the top.

Or this: Grill some pitta bread and serve stuffed with the crunch salad. Crumble in some feta cheese, too. Lovely.

GRATING & PEELING

It sounds really basic, but graters and peelers can be used for so much more than just peeling carrots or potatoes and grating cheese. Here are a few ways that I use them to save time when preparing stuff.

ribbon celeriac salad

Inspiration for this came from me being bored with traditional celeriac rémoulade, which is an old-fashioned French salad kind of similar to this but using grated celeriac, mustard and mayo. It’s handy to have a good speed-peeler for this recipe (see page 31). I tend to use capers in vinegar, and it works really well.

SERVES 4

Peel the celeriac, chuck away the skin, then carry on peeling around it, giving you long ribbons. If they break every now and again it doesn’t matter. Continue until you reach the fluffy tasteless inner core, which you should throw away. Remove and discard the chunky parsley stalks, then finely slice the thinner stalks and roughly chop the leaves.

Put the celeriac and parsley into a large bowl and mix with all the other ingredients. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper, adding a little more vinegar if needed, then serve straight away.

Try this: Put some of this salad on a plate, then cover it completely with some smoked salmon and plenty of black pepper.

Or this: Roast a nice chicken, allow it to cool and serve with this salad.

lamb’s lettuce & lychee salad with lucky squid & chilli jam

As you know, I love the use of fruit in salads, and I’ve always wanted to do something with lychees as they are so fresh and fragrant. I thought that, coming from Asia, they’d be fantastic incorporated into a salad with my mate John Torode’s Lucky Squid and Chilli Jam. Thanks for the inspiration, mate. If you haven’t got time to make the chilli jam, then you can always wok-fry the squid with just the lime zest and a bit of fresh chilli. My mum’s a bit of a pleb and uses tinned lychees, but they seem to work for her.

SERVES 4
SWEET CHILLI JAM

First you need to make the chilli jam, so blitz up all the jam ingredients roughly in a food processor, apart from the sugar and the fish sauce. Put the mixture in a wok or a pan and cook gently, stirring regularly, for about 20 minutes on a slow simmer. Put back into the food processor and blitz again until very, very smooth. Return the mixture to the pan, add the sugar, and simmer slowly again for 30 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure it doesn’t catch. Season to taste with fish sauce. Allow to cool, and keep in the fridge until you need it. It will keep for up to 2 weeks. It’s fantastic used in any stir-frying or salads.

Lightly score the inside of the squid in a criss-cross fashion. Get a wok or pan really hot and add a lug of olive oil. Season the squid with sea salt and black pepper and lay it in the wok, then finely grate in the lime zest and give it a good shake about. It normally only takes about 2 minutes to cook, and should curl up at the edges. Remove from the heat, slice the squid, add back to the pan with the chilli jam and stir to coat. Squeeze over the lime juice and add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Lightly dress the lamb’s lettuce and lychees with a little extra virgin olive oil. Scatter the squid over the leaves and sprinkle everything with chilli. Spoon over a little of the juice from the wok.

stir-fried warm salad of prawns & baby courgettes

I love the crunch of the raw baby courgettes you can easily get hold of these days. The zing of lime and ginger and the sweetness of the charred prawns are amazing.

SERVES 4

Run a sharp knife down the back of the prawns and pull out the vein, meaning they will butterfly as they cook and will take on more flavour. Get a wok or pan very hot while you very finely slice the baby courgettes at an angle. Place these in a bowl and have all the ingredients ready to go, which is really important when you’re stir-frying. To the hot pan, add the oil, prawns and ginger, then finely grate in the lime zest. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until the prawns are lightly golden. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 30 seconds before adding the courgettes, lime juice, chilli and herbs. You can increase or decrease the quantity of chilli to taste. I prefer to use lots! Season with soy sauce and toss well, then serve up. Eat straight away, while the courgettes are still nice and crunchy.

‘what’s fresh, mate?’
‘what’s fresh, mate?’

warm salad of roasted squash, prosciutto & pecorino

This is one of those easy salads with a twist. You may have tried a Parma ham, rocket and Parmesan salad with a little balsamic vinegar, but by adding warm roasted squash and trying it with pecorino, which is slightly smoother than Parmesan, it’s a real pleasure and even feels a bit posh.

SERVES 4

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Carefully cut the butternut squash in half, keeping the seeds intact. Remove the two ends and discard. Cut each half into quarters and place in a roasting tray, then rub with a little olive oil. In a pestle and mortar pound up a level teaspoon each of sea salt and black pepper with the chilli and coriander seeds. Scatter this over the squash, then roast for 30 minutes, or until golden and soft. Allow to cool a little.

Lay the prosciutto on 4 plates — let it hang over the edge and encourage it to twist so it doesn’t look neat and flat. Tear up the warm squash and put it in and around the ham. Sprinkle over the seeds and the rocket. Drizzle over 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the balsamic vinegar, add a tiny pinch of salt and pepper, and use a speed-peeler to shave over the pecorino (see page 31). Easy!

‘a kitchen doesn’t just have to be in the home – I’ll cook anywhere … I’ve even cooked a steak on my engine’
‘a kitchen doesn’t just have to be in the home – I’ll cook anywhere … I’ve even cooked a steak on my engine’

the proper french side salad

You know what I’m like — I’m the world’s biggest lover of salads! When I worked in France we used to have brilliant cheap French salads, but on my last trip to Paris all I kept getting in restaurants were some miserable leaves served with bits of overcooked hard-boiled egg and big clumsy chunks of plain old tomato. I’m sure this was just bad luck, but it made me think about the good salads I’d had, with a cracking French dressing that didn’t have any added sugar. I even saw a chef add some raw egg whites to a French dressing to help it emulsify — a sackable offence.

SERVES 4
FRENCH DRESSING

Put the shallots into a small dish, cover with vinegar and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Pull off all the dark green frisée leaves and throw them away, as they are bitter, then cut off all the yellow-white leaves down to the stalk. Place them in a large salad bowl with the chives and chervil. Cook the green beans in boiling salted water until tender, then drain and allow to cool. I’m not a great fan of fridge-cold beans, but beans at room temperature or warm are fantastic in this salad, so add them to the bowl. Remove any sad-looking outer leaves from the gem lettuces and then cut them into 8 pieces. Add to the salad bowl.

Remove the shallots from the vinegar and sprinkle them over the salad leaves. Put 4 tablespoons of the leftover vinegar in a separate bowl, add the mustard and garlic with a small pinch of sea salt, then slowly whisk in 9 tablespoons of oil until the dressing emulsifies. Taste and correct the seasoning, if needed. Dress the salad, give it a good toss and divide between 4 bowls. Serve immediately.

fresh asian noodle salad

This is one of those salads which tastes so amazing that you have to keep making it! It’s spicy, zingy and really gets your taste buds going.

SERVES 4

Soak the noodles in a bowl of warm water until soft, then drain and put back into the bowl. In a hot wok fry the beef and five-spice in 5 tablespoons of oil until crisp, then add the garlic, ginger, prawns and sugar and stir-fry for another 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir the wok mixture into the noodles. Add the spring onions, lime juice, fish sauce, chillies, coriander, mint and peanuts to the bowl. Toss well and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper — it wants to be quite zingy with the lime juice. Sprinkle with some extra herb leaves, if you like, and serve cold.

Try this: You can modify the recipe by using a little wok-fried squid, shellfish or different minced meats.