Adding the delicious textures of radishes, cucumber, celery and carrots gives an extra crunch, and a well-dressed salad makes a quick accompaniment to almost any meal from rich casseroles to pasta and quiche dishes.

July has always been an excellent month for fish, especially young salmon and mackerel and, at long last, the home-grown tomato season is in full swing again. Sliced thinly with a drizzle of olive oil and a twist of black pepper, they go well alongside a bowl of crisp lettuce leaves and a plate of lightly salted cucumber that needs no more than a dash of cider vinegar and a sprinkling of sea salt to make a quick summer salad.

This month should also see a drop in prices, with fruit now in plentiful supply to use with main dishes, salads and desserts. Here are two salads to help you stay cool during the long hot days of summer, with a few hints and tips on easy and basic dressings to tease your taste buds, followed by two tasty fish dishes, and two popular summer desserts which are definitely back on the menu this month.


CRUNCHY EGG SALAD
Serves 4.

Ingredients: 4 medium eggs, boiled and quartered. 50g new potatoes. Half quantity of Basic Vinaigrette (see recipe below). 3 sticks celery. 50g white radish. 1 bunch of dill. Dressing: 4 tbsp fromage frais. 2 tsp white wine vinegar. Dash of Worcester sauce. Salt and pepper. Method: Boil eggs for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and peel off shells. Boil potatoes for 12-15 minutes until tender. Leave to cool slightly, then peel, slice and toss in Basic Vinaigrette. Slice celery and grate with radish. Toss vegetables together with potatoes and divide between 4 plates, arrange eggs on top. Scatter with dill. Beat fromage frais with vinegar and Worcester sauce and season. Spoon over salad.

BASIC VINAIGRETTE DRESSING

Ingredients: 3 tbsp sunflower oil. 1tbsp white wine vinegar. 1 tsp Dijon mustard. ¼ tsp caster sugar. Salt and pepper to taste. Method: Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix until thoroughly blended. Or you can put ingredients into a screw-topped bottle and shake well before using. For variations add 2 finely chopped gherkins, 1 tsp finely chopped onion, or 25g blue cheese crumbled. Serves 4.


CHICKEN AND GRAPEFRUIT SALAD

This dish can be served as a first course for 8 or a main course for 4.

Ingredients: 450g cooked chicken. 1 grapefruit. ½ cucumber. 25g chopped blanched almonds. Juice of ½ lemon. 4 tbsp mayonnaise. 1 tbsp parsley. Freshly ground black pepper. Method: Chop chicken and cover with lemon juice and black pepper. Remove rind and pith from grapefruit and cut into small pieces. Peel and chop cucumber. Mix in almonds and mayonnaise with all the other ingredients. Decorate with chopped parsley and chill well.


STUFFED MACKEREL

When cooked, the mackerel can be served either hot or cold

Serves 4.

Ingredients: 4 mackerel. 1 tsp horseradish. 75g cream cheese. 1 tsp chopped onion. 150ml cider. Method: Split and clean the fish. Work the horseradish into the cream cheese together with the onion and just enough cider to make a soft spreadable cream. Spread this inside the fish and fold them back into shape. Place mackerel side by side in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with the remaining cider. Bake in preheated oven 180C, 350F, Gas Mk 4 for 45 minutes. Serve with a green salad and new potatoes.

PLAICE AND CRISPY BACON

This is such a simple dish to make, and the combination of bacon with fish makes it less bland. I've used plaice in this recipe, but you can use almost any other white fish.

Serves 4.

Ingredients: 4 large plaice fillets. 4 rashers of bacon with fat trimmed off. 1½ tbsps olive oil. 2 tbsps chopped dill (fresh or dried). 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped. 4-5 tbsp fresh orange juice. Method: Make sure as much fat and rind, as possible, is trimmed off the bacon, and chop into small pieces. Fry bacon in non-stick pan until crisp. Mix the oil, juice and three quarters of the dill and red pepper together with the cooked bacon, season to taste and warm through. Clean and dry plaice fillets, make three slashes across each fillet, brush grill pan with a little oil and heat under grill for about half a minute. Arrange fish on the grill pan and brush with a little warm oil and grill for about 6 minutes, adding some of the bacon and pepper mixture halfway through the cooking time. Put onto hot serving plates and top with bacon and pepper mixture. Sprinkle with remaining dill or some chopped parsley. New potatoes and sliced courgettes go well with this fish dish.


TRADITIONAL SUMMER PUDDING

This is one of my favourite desserts, and one that most of you will have made at some time or other. If you have a 'pick your own' fruit farm near you, do pay it a visit, you can then be sure your fruit will be fresh and firm.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients: 750g soft red fruit (raspberries, black and red currants, etc). 110g caster sugar (extra if you have a sweet tooth!) 9 slices of day-old white bread with crusts removed. Strip of lemon rind. Method: Put the fruit into a bowl with sugar to taste and the lemon rind and leave overnight. Turn the fruit into a pan, discard lemon rind and simmer for 3 minutes until very lightly cooked. Remove from heat. Cut a circle from one slice of bread to fit the bottom of a 1.5 litre (2 pint) pudding basin. Line the base and sides of the basin with bread, filling in any gaps with small pieces of bread. Then fill with the fruit and juices from cooking. Cover with bread slices. Place a flat plate and a 900g (2lb) weight on top and leave overnight in the refrigerator. Turn onto a plate and served with whipped cream or fromage frais.


RASPBERRY AND STRAWBERRY FOOL

An all-time family favourite which captures the taste and flavour of almost any summer fruit.

Serves 4.

Ingredients: 200g raspberries and 200g strawberries, cleaned and hulled. 75g caster sugar (or to taste). 300ml whipping cream. Method: Thickly slice the strawberries and put into a bowl with the raspberries, sprinkle with sugar and leave to stand for 25 minutes. Lightly mash the fruit to a rough purée with a spoon. Whip the cream until it holds its shape and fold the fruit purée into the cream. Spoon the mixture into tall glasses – champagne glasses are ideal. Decorate with raspberries and sliced strawberries and chill before serving.

Next month we have a simple summer bake, with open faced fruit pies and savoury quiches, containing an assortment of mouth-watering fillings, and making use of all the soft fruits that will still be with us.