If you’ve been reading Hip & Healthy for a while now, you’ll know how much we adore Daylesford Organic. Their beautiful farmshops and cafes are our go-to weekend hangout spots. Not to mention their mothership farm in the picturesque Cotswolds! We’re sharing two easy summer picnic recipes that you can enjoy to make the most of the summer before autumn dawns upon us!

Herbed Cucumber and Yoghurt Salad with Edible Flowers

Simple, light and utterly refreshing, this is truly a salad for summer. We like to use bee- friendly herbs and flowers as garnishes; try chive flowers, borage, fennel tops or thyme.

In the Daylesford Market Garden, we support our bees by growing flowering crops and allowing our salad brassicas to flower. Just as the bees rely on our efforts, we depend on their ability and hard work to pollinate crops. By maintaining a growing diversity, we create a source of nectar to keep these valuable pollinators on site.

For the salad

1 large cucumber (roughly 500g) seeded centre removed

½ red onion, peeled and finely sliced

Dressing

100g organic natural yoghurt

2.5 tbsps lemon juice

¼ tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp dill, finely chopped

1 tbsp mint, finely chopped

¼ tsp salt

generous twist of black pepper

Garnish

Nigella seeds or freshly chopped chives

Edible flowers such as chive tops, borage or fennel flowers

Method

Slice (and peel if you wish) the cucumber on an angle into strips about 0.5cm thick. Transfer to a bowl with the red onion and toss together.

Put all of the ingredients for the dressing into a separate bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine. Pour the dressing over the cucumber and toss until evenly coated. Sprinkle with the nigella seeds and edible flowers before enjoying straight away.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Green Tapenade Dressing

This is a dish that proves that opposites attract. The contrasting colours of the punchy green tapenade and the rich reds, oranges and yellows of our heritage tomatoes are stunning. As for the flavours, the zip of the caper, anchovies, garlic and herbs in the dressing is a perfect foil for the fruity sweetness of ripe tomatoes.

This year we are looking forward to a bumper crop of organic heritage tomatoes, with two more polytunnels giving space for 38 varieties and a total of 3,500 plants.

Serves 4

Green Tapenade

70g green olives, pitted

10 capers

2 anchovy fillets

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

15g parsley, roughly chopped

2 sprigs thyme, leaves only

zest of ½ a lemon

5 tsps lemon juice

4 tbsp olive oil

generous twist of pepper

Salad

500g tomatoes, assorted varieties

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp lemon

pinch salt

½ a shallot, finely sliced

Method

Begin by making your green tapenade. Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until it reaches a coarse paste. Adjust the seasoning to taste before transferring to a jar.

When using heirloom tomatoes from our Market Garden, we like to slice them in a variety of ways so as to show off their incredible detail and colour. Longer tomatoes are best when quartered lengthways while rounder tomatoes look pretty when sliced horizontally across the centre. Play around with the different shapes and place into a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add the lemon, salt and shallots. Gently toss everything together.

Transfer the tomatoes to a platter and drizzle over about 2 tablespoons of the tapenade. Serve straight away with delicious crusty bread, cold meats and more summertime favourites.

Visit Daylesford Organic for more recipes and to find out more about their philosophy