Salad Days

Ok your average lettuce, tomato and cucumber concoction is dull. Even a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of vinegar doesn't do it for me. Loads of salad cream might just make it edible.

On the other hand eating raw stuff is definitely beneficial. And it is summer and it seems to be the thing to do.

The ingredients here are simple. Beetroot, blood orange, cucumber, iceberg and chestnut mushrooms. Cut up or ripped apart in the case of the orange and the lettuce. Not much of a recipe but here are my top salad tips:

• Roll the orange in your hands before you peel it. The skin loosens and the juices are released
• Peel and rip the orange to bits over the rest of the ingredients so you don't loose any juice
• Rip up the lettuce, if you cut it it will go brown at the edges quite quickly
• Cook the beetroots at home if you can get raw ones and use them slightly warm. It really brings out the flavour
• Let all the ingredients get to room temperature if you want to be able to taste them
• Apple and crunchy pear is also good but get it in some lemon juice as soon as it is cut - it will help stop the slices turning brown
• Even palid supermarket tomatoes are improved with a little sugar and fresh basil.
• Pea shoots are fantastic. I'm experimenting with growing some on indoors on paper. Success with be triumphantly reported here. Failure will disappear like tears in the rain.
• If you can't find anything else raisins and sultanas can lift a dull salad
• Honey and plain yoghurt makes a fine dressing - but don't over do it

 I served mine with roast lamb, pasta and fresh pesto.