This feta cheese salad with peaches is an enjoyable mixture of tastes. Peaches are in season now. Or you could use pears. The rocket with its peppery tastes is good with the high water content of the spinach and the watercress. If you don’t have time just pick up a bag of mixed salad in the supermarket.

Simply Better do an excellent barrel-aged feta cheese which I use a lot. This salad is also very good with St Tola goats cheese. And I hope you have some mint growing in the garden – you will get so much use out of it over the next few months.

This sticky chicken can be cooked in the oven or on the barbecue. Chicken is good value. I like the corn-fed chicken. It is nice and succulent. If your chicken thighs are on the bone give them a little longer to cook. The leftovers from boneless are ideal in a school sandwich or a wrap the next day. Sometime I serve this with rice, but every now and again I use potatoes for a change.

Happy cooking,

Neven.

Feta cheese salad with griddled peaches and mint

Serves four

2 tbsp olive oil

4 ripe firm peaches, stoned and cut into wedges

juice of 1 lime

200g (7oz) bag watercress, spinach and rocket salad leaves

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

small handful fresh mint leaves

200g (7oz) feta cheese, roughly crumbled

freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 Heat a cast-iron ridged griddle pan until smoking hot, then brush with half of the oil. Toss the peaches in half of the lime juice and place flesh-side down on to the griddle. Cook for two to three minutes until lightly charred, turning once.
  • 2 Place the remaining oil in a large bowl with the rest of the lime juice, the salad leaves and red onion. Roughly tear the mint and scatter on top, then divide among four plates.
  • 3 Scatter the charred peaches over the dressed salad mixture and crumble the feta cheese on top. Season with pepper and serve immediately.
  • Thai sticky chicken

    Serves two

    For the chicken:

    15g (1/2oz) packet fresh coriander

    1 green chilli, seeded and chopped

    2 garlic cloves, chopped

    2.5cm (1in) piece root ginger, peeled and chopped

    3 tbsp dark soy sauce

    50g (2oz) light muscovado sugar

    6 chicken thighs, trimmed

    1 tsp sunflower oil

    For the dipping sauce:

    2 tbsp caster sugar

    2 tsp white vinegar (rice or wine)

    juice of ½ lime

    1 red chilli, finely sliced

    steamed Thai fragrant rice, to serve

  • 1 Reserve a handful of the coriander leaves for the dipping sauce, then roughly chop the remainder and put into a food processor. Add the chilli, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, light muscovado sugar and blend to a paste. Spoon all over the chicken thighs in a shallow Pyrex dish and if time allows leave to marinade for 10 minutes at room temperature.
  • 2 Meanwhile, make the dipping sauce, put the caster sugar in a pan with two tablespoons of water and simmer for a few minutes to make a sugar syrup, then stir in the vinegar, lime juice and chilli. Leave to cool and stir in the coriander leaves.
  • 3 Preheat the oven to 190°C, (350°F, gas mark four). Drizzle the sunflower oil over the chicken thighs and roast for 35 minutes until cooked through and golden brown, basting occasionally to give them a nice sticky glaze.
  • 4 Arrange the chicken on plates or in oriental bowls with the rice and put the dipping sauce in small dishes alongside to serve.