THE BEST PRO TIPS FOR COOL SUMMER SALADS

It’s late summertime and the living should be, as the famous song says, EASY.

Low-hassle salads put together for dinner are not only healthy, they make a great cornerstone for lunch the next day too.

Here’s our best advice for two fabulously fashionable salads that work as well as main courses as they do as starters and sides.

Pro tips for kale salad

Not so long ago kale was a winter vegetable you had to persuade people to try – now it’s in everything from stews and stir-fries to smoothies and snacks.

And because these days it’s grown almost year-round in the UK, people want it in summer salads too.

Thing is: kale has a low moisture content and fibrous, sometimes leathery texture. It can make salads seem chewy.

But there are a few tricks you can use to get round this, and they’re perfectly exemplified in The Narrow’s recipe for Kale, chickpea and avocado salad with sesame vinaigrette.

First thing is to get your knife out. Once you’ve stripped the kale from its tough stalks, cut the leaves down further. Make a fine chiffonade (long thin strips), slightly thicker ribbons, or coarsely chop the leaves like parsley.

Next add chunks of creaminess – avocado is perfect, or you could use a soft fresh cheese when devising your own recipe at home. Juicy sweetness is essential to balance kale’s rugged texture too – chefs at The Narrow add clementines or easy-peel citrus.

Of course the dressing’s important. Make it unctuous. The Narrow includes sesame oil and honey in the basic oil and vinegar combo. But you could go with something creamy like Caesar dressing or ranch. Or leave the raw onions out of the recipe and instead use this Red onion vinaigrette from Gordon, which also works with potatoes and cauliflower.

Some people like to massage the dressing into the kale leaves to help tenderize them but it’s not necessary when the kale’s cut small. Feel free, however, to let the dressing sit on the salad for a little while before serving – unlike, say, spinach or watercress salad, the acid in the dressing won’t make kale wilt quickly.

Chefs’ best summer salad

Right now, English garden salads are the epitome of cool in London restaurants, like mid-century modern furniture is for home interiors. Chefs love the vintage combination of tomato, cucumber, lettuce and egg, the retro wit of homemade salad cream, and playing with ways to bring the old school recipe up to date.

At Bread Street Kitchen, chef Paul Shearing takes the totem ingredients of an English garden salad and adds fresh pickings from allotment and market as well: think carrot tops, celery leaves, striped radishes, beetroot, wild asparagus (when in season) and more.

You can use whatever seasonal salad ingredients you have to hand, but aim for at least five to get the right contemporary, bountiful feel. And take care with the garnishes and dressings – BSK uses homemade salad cream with actual double cream and a few drops of walnut oil, plus a classic vinaigrette, lemon and lime flavoured sea salt, and a thinly sliced apple (English of course!) for fruity crunch.

Fruit can really lift a savoury salad. Think of the juicy sweetness and acidity that apple brings to waldorf salad, another retro favourite, or see how simply it lifts this little side salad for Gordon Ramsay’s pan-fried scallops (a recipe that’s also good with crab or lobster). Now the English apple season has started, there’s every excuse to make the most of them.