#SaturdayNightCook All Summer Salad

This is a salad I make from May to September, while the days are warm. I start making it as the asparagus and new potatoes arrive, and stop when the nights begin to draw in, varying the vegetables with the seasons.

SERVES 4

500g new potatoes
4 organic eggs
100g Kalamata olives
1 small cucumber
300g ripe tomatoes
200g asparagus

FOR THE DRESSING

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon runny honey

TO FINISH

chopped soft herbs
lemon zest

First put your new potatoes into a medium saucepan with a good pinch of sea salt and cover with cold water – you want a good amount of water here, as you will be adding other things to the pan later. Bring the potatoes to the boil, then allow to simmer for 12–20 minutes depending on their size.

In another small pan bring some salted water to a rolling boil, add the eggs and boil for 6 minutes, so that the middles are only just set. If you’d like them hard-boiled, go for a minute more. Crack the shells on a hard surface then run them under cold water for 30 seconds to stop them cooking, then leave to cool.

While the eggs are cooking, whisk together all the dressing ingredients, then taste and season. You want it to be quite punchy, as it will mellow when it hits everything else.

Pit your olives and rip them in half. Peel the cucumber and halve it down the middle, use a teaspoon to scoop out the watery seeds in the middle, then cut it into chunky slices. Roughly chop the tomatoes into different-sized pieces. Put them all into a large bowl.

When your potatoes are nearly cooked, add the asparagus to the pan and cook for the final 3–4 minutes. Drain everything and leave to steam dry. Once the potatoes have steamed away all of their moisture, add them to the bowl while they are still warm, along with the asparagus (tough ends snapped off), and pour over the dressing. Use the back of a spoon to lightly crush the potatoes and allow them to split and soak up some of the dressing.

Peel the eggs, half or quarter them, then dot over the bowl and finish with some chopped herbs or lemon zest if you have some to hand.