Roasted tomato, chilli, citrus & lemongrass salad

Always store your tomatoes in a fruit bowl, never the fridge – a pet hate of mine for years! Tomatoes are porous, and take on the flavours of the things around them, so if you put them in the fridge they’ll end up tasting like your Camembert. It’s of particular importance in this recipe, where the flavour of the tomatoes is crucial. By blistering them on the barbecue, they take on a smoky flavour that turns this simple salad into something truly amazing.

This is great as a side salad with meat and fish, but if you want to make it a main meal serve with some rice.

Serves 2 as a side, or as a main with steamed jasmine rice

GF OPTIONAL / VE

200g vine cherry tomatoes

2 large beef tomatoes, sliced into 8 chunks

100g green tomatoes

2 long red chillies, stems removed

1 tablespoon palm sugar (or soft dark brown sugar)

2 limes (1 juiced and 1 diced with the zest still on)

juice of 1 clementine

50ml soy sauce

1 teaspoon caster sugar, palm sugar if you have it

1 stick lemongrass, outer layer removed and very thinly sliced

3 spring onions, thinly sliced

50ml vegetable stock

15g coriander leaves

15g mint leaves, roughly torn

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons sliced Thai shallots (or banana shallots)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, grill all the tomatoes, lemongrass and the chillies on the BBQ. Ideally, this should be done over a wood fire as the flavour is better, but if you have an electric or gas BBQ they will still take on a smoky flavour. Place them onto direct heat and cook for about 5 minutes on each side until they are blistered and charred all over and have softened slightly. As soon as they are cooked, put them straight into a mixing bowl so no juices are lost, as this all contributes to the salad dressing. Stir in the sugar immediately, so that it melts.

Once cool enough to handle, remove the outer shell of the lemongrass as this can be tough and will likely be charred from the grill. Discard the outer layer and thinly slice the soft core of the lemongrass to put through the salad.

Next, add the lime and clementine juices and soy sauce to the bowl. Stir, taste and season a little if needed – it should be sweet, salty, sour and smoky.

 Finally, add the remaining ingredients, delicately toss together and serve.