Four seasons Cheshire cheese, spinach and potato salad

This year-round salad is full of interesting tastes, textures and colours. It’s perfect served for a light main course and it makes a brilliant side dish, starter or buffet salad too. What’s more, it’s an excellent source of calcium – present in the Cheshire cheese, spinach, watercress and almonds.

Serves 4 as a main and 6 for a starter

Preparation time 15 minutes

Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

> 450g/1lb Vivaldi or small new potatoes, scrubbed

> Pinch of salt

> 2 tsp wholegrain mustard

> 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

> 2 tbsp olive oil

> Freshly ground black pepper

> 1 medium red onion, finely sliced

> 2 large oranges

> 135g bag spinach, rocket and watercress salad

> 200g/7oz Cheshire cheese

> 50g/2oz blanched almonds or unsalted cashews

Instructions

1 Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes, until tender.

2 Meanwhile, mix together the mustard, vinegar and olive oil in a large salad bowl. Season with ground black pepper. Add the red onion, stir well and allow to marinate whilst you prepare the oranges - the onion will soften and release a lovely pink colour into the dressing. Add the potatoes whilst warm, so that they absorb the flavour of the dressing.

3 Using a sharp, serrated knife, peel the oranges, removing all the pith. Do this over the salad bowl so that you catch all the drips. Segment the oranges with the knife to remove all the membrane, adding them to the bowl with the juice as you go along.

4 Add the spinach, watercress and rocket salad. Toss together to coat in the dressing. Break up the Cheshire cheese into chunks and add them to the bowl.

5 Toast the almonds or cashews, either under the grill or in a heavy-based frying pan, until they begin to brown lightly. Tip onto the salad whilst hot, and serve immediately.