Asparagus & Samphire Salad

A warming salad can be just the thing to round off a warm summers day. It's light and delicate, easy and quick to make, and gently warms you while the temperature drops and the evening draws in. There are unlimited possibilities for ideas, but here's one which contains samphire, a salty march vegetable that's both tasty and nutritious. And being quite salty, it's perfect for a warm day when you need to replenish some of the salt you lost during the day.

Serves 2

20 cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
200g broadbeans (frozen)
2 bunches asparagus
80g samphire
a few salad leaves
4 stalks of spring onion

Turn your oven on to 180^oC  and slice the tomatoes in half. Place them on a baking tray and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes then remove from the oven.

While the tomatoes are roasting, boil the egg to your preference. I like them hard-boiled but not green, so I boil them for 6 to 7 minutes. Shell your egg and leave it in hand-warm water until you need it.

At the same time as you start boiling the eggs, also bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the broadbeans and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the asparagus, leave to boil for 4 minutes, and finally add the samphire and cook for a further 4 minutes. (If you are using tinned broadbeans, drain them, and add them last when the sampire has only got one more minute to cook.)

Tear the salad leaves into pieces, and place on plates. Finely chop the spring onion and scatter then over the salad leaves. Drain the greens and add to your plates. Then divide the tomatoes evenly, and finally slice the eggs lengthways and place round the edge of the plates.

If you want you could add a little drizzle of olive oil, or even a vinaigrette. The Lemon and Maple syrup vinaigrette goes quite well.