Runner bean, new potato, courgette and lightly smoked salmon salad

Serves 1 Starters and mains

Advertisement

Method

Here is a garden or allotment salad that is full of summer flavours. Add marigold petals (calendula) to the mix as they add their own flavour. If you have any runner beans that have toughened up and have fat beans inside their pods, remove the beans and cook them. Then skin them to reveal their bright green interior and use them in the salad too. You could use trofie pasta instead of potatoes if you wish.

Firstly, make the sweet mustard dressing. Put all of the ingredients into a screw-top jar that has a secure lid and shake vigorously to emulsify.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. String the beans using a vegetable peeler and slice them diagonally into thin shreds. Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water for about 15 minutes until just cooked.

Drain, peel if wished, and slice into rounds straight into a dish. Add half the dressing while still warm so they absorb the flavour.

Line a baking tray with foil and add the fish. Top with a knob of butter and cook in the oven for 9 minutes. Remove and allow the fish to cool briefly. Peel off the skin and flake into large pieces over the potatoes.

Cook the shredded beans and any whole podded beans in salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes until just tender, drain in a colander and refresh with cold running water. Pop any whole beans from their skins. Meanwhile, slice the courgette thinly on the diagonal and toss into the dish with the beans and the remaining dressing. Pull petals off the marigold flower straight over the dish and serve.