By Simon King, chef/proprietor at restaurant 1861 near Abergavenny.

Now that it’s summer, salads are just the thing to tempt us on hot afternoons and balmy evenings.

Salads are so often disappointing affairs, with some limp lettuce, and a watery tomato - but they really needn’t be like that. With a little imagination, they can be colourful and joyful creations filled with fresh herbs, flowers and foraged goodies.

You can put almost anything in a salad to jazz it up, from fruit such as banana and peach, to thinly sliced vegetables like courgette; edible flowers such as nasturtium and borage; and toasted nuts and seeds.

Whizz up a simple dressing with olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar, and you are away.

Salads are also quick to prepare, nourishing and wholesome, and definitely don’t need to be confined to hot weather.

I grow my own herbs and salad for the restaurant kitchen, and it’s very satisfying to do so – I also know that the produce is totally fresh and pesticide free.

If you have a small garden, then you’ll have room to grow some lettuce and cut-and-come-again salad leaves, as they don’t take up much space.

If you don’t have a garden, then try growing herbs in a window box or on a sunny window ledge, or a balcony.

I’m a keen forager, and one of my favourites is nettle. Nettle leaves contain both iron and Vitamin C, and are also reputed to contain serotonin, hence the reputation nettles have as a tonic.

You can use nettles in risotto, soup and quiche.

You can also infuse them in vinegar which is then perfect to use as a dressing on your summer salad.

Goat cheese and pickled beetroot salad

Ingredients

250g goat cheese log

12 baby beetroot cooked and peeled

250 mls white wine vinegar

250g caster sugar

1 tsp pickling spices- peppercorns, coriander seeds, dried chilli, mustard seeds, bay leaf, sprig of thyme

100g salad leaves, flowers and petals

Drop of olive oil

Method

Boil the vinegar, stir in the caster sugar and the pickling spices, pour over the cooked beetroot and leave to cool overnight.

The beetroot can be eaten straight away but will improve by storing in a cool dark place for one month.

To serve slice the goat cheese into 12 even slices.

Place three slices on each plate and accompany each slice with a pickled beetroot.

Toss the salad leaves in a little olive oil and the vinegar from the beetroot, season and divide between four plates.