This week, two recipes for when you want to spend very little time in the kitchen. There’s one to make when corn is cheap and sweet and tomatoes plentiful, from now until the end of summer.
I keep the corn and tomatoes raw here, countering their natural sweetness with a good hit of red-wine vinegar, while the croutons, golden on the outside, chewy on the inside, make this summer salad more of a meal.
The second is a herb and lentil dish with an upbeat dressing of ginger and lime that makes the most of soft summer herbs. Fresh, bright and easy eating for summer optimists; even when it’s not sunny, we can eat as if it is.
Summer corn and tomato salad with olive oil-crisped bread (above)
I eat this as a lunch or light supper; to make it even more substantial, I often pair it with some avocado smashed with a little lime juice and some chopped green chilli. You could also roughly chop a couple of avocados and toss them through the salad, if you like.
Prep 20 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 4
2 slices good-quality bread (I use sourdough)
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
2 ears corn
500g tomatoes (all shapes, sizes and colours)
4 spring onions
2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
100g toasted almonds
50g pecorino (I use a vegetarian one)
1 small bunch mint, leaves picked
1 small bunch basil, leaves picked
50ml extra-virgin olive oil
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/ gas 7. Tear the bread into small, rough chunks and lay them on a baking tray. Drizzle generously with olive oil (about four tablespoons) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast for 10-15 minutes – how long you cook them for will depend on the density of your bread. You want the croutons to be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, so try to take them out before they are hard all the way through.
Meanwhile, make the salad. Cut the corn kernels from the ears; I do this by resting the end of the corn in a large mixing bowl, which stops the corn from flying everywhere. Cut the tomatoes into bite-sized chunks – it’s nice to keep the shapes and cuts different – and add them to the bowl. Finely slice the spring onions and add these, too. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper, plus the vinegar, and leave to sit for at least 30 minutes.
When the croutons are ready, take them out of the oven. Roughly chop the almonds and finely crumble or coarsely grate the pecorino – I like mine crumbled into pieces about the size of a grain of rice.
Tear the herbs into the bowl, then add the almonds, cheese and the olive oil, and toss everything together. Finish by tossing the croutons through just before you serve.
Herb salad with pistachios, lime and lentils
Here, I use a mixture of herbs I have at home. Any of these will work: coriander, mint, basil, chervil, parsley, tarragon and chives. Picking the leaves into a bowl is a lovely thing to do – you’ll be hit by a wave of fragrance and the bowl will get prettier and prettier as you pick.
Prep 20 min
Cook 5 min
Serves 4–6
¼ cucumber, chopped into 5mm dice
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp flaky sea salt
1 tsp golden caster sugar
5 generous handfuls mixed soft herbs
1 x 400g tin puy lentils, drained and rinsed
50g toasted pistachios, roughly chopped
For the ginger dressing
Zest and juice of 2 limes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
½ tsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp brown rice vinegar
1 tsp runny honey or agave nectar
½ thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled
1 small garlic clove, peeled
Salt and black pepper
Mix the cucumber in a bowl with the vinegar, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Scrunch well to help begin the pickling, then cover with a plate and set to one side.
Roughly pick the leaves from the herbs, discarding any tough stalks, and wash in a bowl of cold water. Lift into a salad spinner, and spin to dry – that way, they’ll retain more of the dressing and won’t wilt immediately, which can sometimes happen when the leaves are wet.
Next, make the dressing. Mix the lime zest and juice, olive oil, chilli, shallot, tamari, vinegar and honey in a bowl. Use a fine grater to grate in the ginger and garlic. Mix with a fork and season to taste.
Drain the cucumber and pat dry with kitchen paper. Put in a large bowl with the herbs and lentils, toss, add the dressing, and turn it all a few times to coat everything evenly. Sprinkle with the pistachios and serve straight away.
