Forget salads with 20 ingredients and complicated dressings. The most memorable are the simplest, made with seasonal produce whose quality is plain to see. If you have paid a fortune for the softest buffalo mozzarella, the silkiest salami and sought out the freshest peas and juiciest melons, the last thing you want is for them to get lost in a jumble of silly, frilly leaves and garlicky dressings. This season the salad is all about buying the best, the ripest, the sweetest and doing as little to it as possible.
Mozzarella and green bean
serves 2
French beans - 150g
broad beans - 750g (approx. 300g shelled weight)
buffalo mozzarella - 1 large ball
for the dressing:
basil leaves - about 20 large ones
white wine vinegar - 1 tbs
extra virgin olive oil - 3 tbs
garlic - 1 small clove
Top and tail the green beans and cook them in salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes till tender, then drain them and rinse under cold, running water. They should retain some crunch.
Pod the broad beans and boil them for 7-8 minutes until tender.
Drain, rinse under cold water and set them aside. If the beans are exceptionally small and the skins are thin and tender, there is no need to skin them, but if they are large then you might like to consider popping them out of their skins - it doesn't take very long and is a pleasurable enough thing to do. The result is a better salad. Whiz the basil, vinegar, olive oil and garlic together in a blender or food processor to make a smooth green dressing.
Cut the mozzarella into thick slices and divide it between two plates. Surround with green and broad beans and drizzle with the dressing.
Lentil, pea and feta
serves 2
small green lentils such as de Puy - 75g
shelled peas - 190g
radishes - 12
parsley - 1 small bunch
olive oil - 1 tbs and a little extra
lemon juice - 1 tbs
feta cheese - 200g
Rinse the lentils in a sieve under running water, tip them into a pan of boiling, lightly salted water. Leave them at an enthusiastic simmer for about 15 minutes until they are tender, then drain, tip into a bowl and stir a little olive oil through them.
Boil the peas in lightly salted water till tender, drain under cold running water and mix with the lentils. Thinly slice the radishes, pull the parsley leaves from their stalks but keep them whole, and fold them gently into the lentils with the olive oil and lemon juice.
Cut the feta into four thin slices, divide between two plates and spoon the salad over them.
Roast chicken with celery and cornichons
serves 4
a medium sized chicken - jointed into 8 pieces
garlic - 8 cloves, peeled
olive oil - 3 tbs
for the salad:
celery - 4 large ribs
cornichons - 12
red wine vinegar - 1 tbs
extra virgin olive oil - 3 heaped tbs
Parmesan - 2 tbs, grated
parsley - a handful
Set the oven at 200°C/gas 6. Toss the chicken pieces and the peeled cloves of garlic with the olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and black pepper. Roast for 35-45 minutes or so until the chicken is golden and the skin is crisp.
Thinly slice the celery. I cut each stalk on the diagonal to give wide, thin slices. Cut each cornichon into thin strips.
Mix the red wine vinegar, olive oil and grated Parmesan to produce a thick dressing. Season with a little black pepper. Roughly chop the parsley leaves then toss gently with the dressing, celery and cornichons. Serve the salad with the roast chicken.
Speck, watercress and melon
serves 2
half a large Charentais melon - chilled
watercress - 1 bunch
sherry vinegar - 1 tbs
walnut oil - 1 tbs
olive oil - 1 tbs
flat leaf parsley - 1 small bunch
speck - 8 thin slices
Scoop the seeds from the melon, slice away the skin and cut the flesh into six thin slices. Divide between two plates.
Wash the watercress, remove the tough stalks, then tuck it in among the melon. Mix the sherry vinegar with the walnut and olive oils and a little salt and pepper, then chop the parsley leaves and stir them into the dressing. Dress the melon and watercress. Lay the slices of speck over the melon and serve immediately.
New potatoes and salami
serves 4
new potatoes - 16-24, depending on their size
extra virgin olive oil
rosemary - 1 bushy sprig
black olives - 16
salami - 24 slices
Set the oven to 200°C/gas 6. Rub the loose skin from the potatoes then boil them in salted water till tender. Drain, and put them into a baking dish or roasting tin. Using the back of a spoon, press down onto each potato, crushing it slightly - you just need to break the skin and flesh a little to allow the oil to penetrate and the potato to crisp.
Pour a good glug of olive oil over each smashed potato, chop the rosemary spikes finely and crumble them over the potatoes. Season and roast for 35-40 minutes till the potatoes are golden and crisp around the edges.
Divide the salami between four plates, then add the olives, the roast potatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.
