Summer is for salads: kick things off with Donal Skehan's Flavour Bomb recipe!

The summer has finally arrived and things are really starting to heat up! This week has been a little bit crazy with lots of cookery demos and signings across the country to promote my new book. I have however managed to steal away some quite moments to myself which included the most amazing cliff walk around Howth where I live on Wednesday evening, I got some peas, beetroot, swiss chard, and herbs planted in the garden and best of all I've been able to cook in my own kitchen! While my garden hasn't produced anything edible just yet, in the summer there is nothing I love more than eating salads and this one is high on my list of favourites. It's more of a kitchen clearout than a definite recipe but it is wonderfully delicious and perfect for a quick summer supper.

Flavour Bomb Salad

This really is a bit of a 'kitchen sink' salad to which you could add all sorts of extras into but there are some incredible flavours in there which work really well together. We actually had this with a poached egg this week, which was quite a nice extra!

Serves 2
200g of halloumi cheese, cut into 1cm thick slices
100g of chorizo, cut into chunky discs
200g of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 baby gem lettuce
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
Toss the tomatoes in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and place on a roasting tray. Roast in the oven for about 35 minutes until they have reduced in size and become caramelised.
Fry the chorizo in a dry frying pan over a high heat heat until sizzling and coloured. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Save the oil the chorizo has produced in the pan.
Squeeze in the lemon juice, add the cider vinegar, garlic, season with sea salt and ground black pepper and whisk to combine. Transfer to bowl and place the pan back over the heat.
Add a drop of oil if required and then fry the halloumi slices on both sides until they have a nice golden colour.
In a large bowl toss together the baby gem lettuce leaves with the dressing, chickpeas, chorizo and red onion and transfer to serving plates.
Top with the halloumi slices and roasted cherry tomatoes and serve straight away.