Seed to Plate

These peppery salad leaves all have their own flavour characteristics, but we've grouped them together because they're interchangeable in most recipes.

Try and pick them when they're young because flavour becomes a lot hotter as they get older and the leaves get rather coarse.

Always soak freshly picked leaves for five minutes in cold water to plump up the leaves. Remove excess water with a salad spinner. Put the whole lot in the fridge - spinner and all and they'll keep for up to a week.

Some people like to cook with these leaves adding to stir fries, pasta etc. but I find you lose a lot of the flavour so I tend to use them just in salads.

To enjoy the individual flavours it's nice to occasionally eat them with no dressing at all. Roughly tear up or shred bigger or more spicy leaves, put a pile on your plate and pick away with your fingers.

Of course dressings are wonderful too. Here are a few to try. Put all the ingredients in the bottom of your salad bowl and whisk together before adding your salad leaves. Alternatively use a container like an old jam jar or even a really cool squeeze bottle from royalvkb - put everything in and shake vigorously.

Make generous amount and keep in the fridge so you don't have the faff everytime you have a salad - which is very regularly these days, we hope!

Classic vinagrette

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of caster sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Add a clove of garlic finely chopped for garlic dressing

Shallot Dressing

1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons creme fraiche
Salt and pepper

Lemon Dressing

4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dry white wine
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper