Boil some potatoes, flake the hot smoked salmon and you have the building blocks for a filling meal. Capers, salad leaves, soft boiled eggs can all be added to make a quick dish.

I’ve used Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise here, which lends a slightly sweeter tang to the egg salad than standard mayonnaise. If you can’t get hold of Kewpie mayonnaise, use the same amount of standard mayonnaise and add a small pinch of sugar to sweeten slightly

Otherwise known as Salade Lyonnaise, this warm salad looks fabulous as well as being really easy to make.

This is a brilliant sharing salad platter that can be brought straight to the table, where people can just help themselves. All the key elements of a classic BLT sandwich are here but made a little more interesting; tomatoes slow roasted in the oven, lettuce drizzled with a blue cheese dressing and sourdough croutons make for a salad with serious wow factor!

This method of cooking crispy beef is one to add to your Asian culinary repertoire. The sauce recipe works well as a glaze for beef or chicken. Serve with a fresh salad – as detailed below – or with fried rice.

The mint salsa is best made just before you are ready to serve as the leaves have a tendency to turn black. Use frozen peas if you can’t find fresh, and swap faro with grains like couscous or bulghur wheat depending on what you have in the storecupboard.

A niçoise salad feels somewhat passé nowadays, but like most trends food or otherwise, it’s time for a comeback. Fresh summer vegetables arranged on a platter with the best quality tuna or fish of your choice, pepped up with salty capers, olives and peppery French mustard dressing, it’s instant summer food. Add, subtract as you wish here, an ideal salad for interpretation.