AT last, spring has arrived. The clocks are going back tomorrow, and the weather girl says there’s a heat wave on the way. It feels like the holidays have started.

As soon as the light increases my appetite decreases and my energy levels soar.

Salad days are here. Gone as the days when a salad was a plateful of shredded iceberg lettuce, three slices of cucumber with the indigestible green skin still attached and a dollop of Heinz salad cream.

Nowadays, there is a wide choice of lettuce on the market, all with different textures and flavours. Don’t be tempted by the gas flashed bags of mixed leaves. Better buy whole heads and mix them a few at a time. Add flavour with fresh herbs and texture with nuts, seeds and even pieces of apple.

I particularly like the bitter tastes of red chicory and radicchio which are packed with potassium, vitamin b and zinc; all good for building immunity.

A mixed salad of fresh lettuce leaves has proven health benefits. They are a rich source of vitamins, antioxidants and are also appetite suppressants. Studies show salads can calm anxiety and, if you have read Beatrix Potter, you will remember they have a soporific effect on rabbits.

BITTER LEAVES, ORANGE AND POMEGRANATE SALAD

1 head radicchio Treviso

2 heads white or red chicory

2 Sicilian or Spanish blood oranges

1 large pomegranate

8-10 leaves fresh mint, shredded

METHOD

Trim the base of the endive and chicory and peel the leaves from each other.

Rinse in a bowl of chilled water.

Drain well, pat dry and add to a wide bowl.

Working over a shallow bowl, slice the skin from the oranges and carefully remove the segments, cutting away any white pith.

Scatter the orange slices over the leaves and add any juice you have collected.

Cut the pomegranate in half and use a heavy object such as a rolling pin or heavy spoon, to knock the seeds out into the salad, again taking care to remove any bitter white pith.

Season with a pinch of sea salt.

Drizzle over the honey and lemon dressing and use your hands to mix it well over the leaves.

Finally, scatter the shredded mint leaves.

HONEY AND LEMON DRESSING

4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

Zest and juice of half an unwaxed lemon

1 teaspoon heather honey

Sea salt and black pepper

METHOD

Add all the ingredients into a bowl. Using a small whisk, mix everything together to emulsify the dressing.

Season to taste.

This can be stored in a sterilised jar in the fridge for a few weeks.