How to make the perfect summer salad

Limp leaves, green tomatoes and cucumber piled up to the sky: salad days aren’t always a heap of fun. Katie Caldesi of Bray’s Caldesi in Campagna reveals a better way to combine healthy eating with scintillating flavour

You can’t go wrong with salads. There is often no cooking involved and they’re full of nutritious benefits – the perfect healthy fast food, in fact.

The trick is to escape the trap of mediocrity; of simply serving a bag of mixed leaves, under-ripe tomatoes and fridge-cold cucumber with no dressing. Where’s the appeal in that?

In fact, you don’t need a lot of ingredients to make a satisfying and tasty salad dish. A beautifully ripe and sweet tomato from a local farmers market needs no more than a sprinkling of salt, a drizzle of high-quality olive oil and a couple of basil leaves to make it sing. And using a variety of textures – plus finding the balance between wet and dry, as well as soft and crunchy – can turn a boring salad into something exciting.

But the real fun comes from experimenting with more unusual taste combinations. The cover recipe for Around the World in Salads, which I co-authored with my husband Giancarlo, mixes avocado with spring onion and orange. We nearly dropped the recipe because it seemed almost too simple, but the flavours were so incredible together that I had to share it. Cauliflower and mango; peach and lentils; and celery, ham and marmalade also work well.

And remember, salads aren’t just for lunch and dinner. Combine watermelon, feta and mint for a refreshing breakfast, and serve Amaretto-soaked roasted black fruits with cashew lime cream for a modern take on the traditional summer fruit salad.

That said, my all-time favourite recipe is incredibly basic and made with just three ingredients: whole lettuce leaves, crispy smoked bacon and Gorgonzola Dolce. It’s quick to put together, yet surprisingly tasty. Serve it for a family lunch or dinner party starter, but eat it my way – with your fingers!

Tips for summer salad success

1) Serve the season Use ingredients that are growing now and you won’t have to do much to add flavour, as they’ll naturally taste their best. Simply season with salt and pepper, freshly chopped herbs and extra virgin olive oil – Tuscan oils are robust and peppery; Ligurian oils subtler and grassy.

2) Dress It Up Combine lemon juice, black onion seeds, olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar to create an uplifting topping for grated cabbage, carrot and chopped pepper. Top with coriander leaves and toasted peanuts for a Vietnamese-style salad. Or mix tahini, olive oil, garlic, orange and lemon juice for a tangy, nutty alternative to mayonnaise.

3) Help yourself Serve ‘DIY’ salads on a wooden chopping board for a social dining experience. Create piles of lettuce leaves, pulled lamb, olives and crème fraîche, or heap up raspberries, redcurrants, crumbed ginger biscuits, whipped ricotta and lemon curd.

4) Eat the rainbow For instant wow, layer up multi-coloured ingredients in your salad bowl: grains, a creamy dip such as guacamole or hummus, green leaves, tomatoes and grated carrot.

5) Make it last Rinsing leaves in ice cold water before use and removing excess liquid with a salad spinner can prolong their life, while soaking tired lettuce can revive it. I tear the leaves too – chopping turns them brown.

Salad in a jar

Build these portable salads in layers within a stylish Mason jar. Perfect for enjoying goodness on the go.

Start with the dressing on the bottom, and then move up to moisture-resistant vegetables such as carrots, cucumber or beans and pulses. Now add a layer of veggies like grated carrot, fruit or cabbage, followed by protein such as chicken, cheese, chickpeas, nuts, quinoa or farro.

Next it’s berries – possibly blueberries or strawberries – or tomatoes, and finally the most delicate layer of all: herbs and leaves, crumbly bacon or breadcrumbs. Screw on the lid. Then, when ready to eat, turn the jar upside down and give it a good shake.