Is it even summer without the classic potato salad for picnics? Well, for those of you who don’t (or can’t) eat dairy, cookbook author, Bettina Campolucci Bordi, has created the most delicious, healthy dairy-free potato salad recipe that will make you feel perfectly summery! Enjoy!

You can’t deny yourself a good potato – fact! Especially if it is a potato salad that has the added goodness of nuts, lentils and greens. You simply can’t go wrong.

INGREDIENTS: Serves 4–6 as a sharing dish

85 g (3 oz / 1/2 cup) beluga lentils

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) baby potatoes

For the dressing

60 ml (2 fl oz / 1/4 cup) olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 small shallot, finely diced

1 tablespoon chopped dill, plus extra to garnish

1/2 tablespoon strong mustard (I love a good Dijon)

1/2 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon chopped capers

1 green apple, cored and finely diced

pink Himalayan salt and black pepper, to taste

To serve

handful of watercress

a handful of baby spinach

30 g (1 oz / 1/4 cup) raw walnuts

METHOD

Cook the lentils following the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.

Next, boil the potatoes in a big saucepan with a pinch of salt. Drain and set aside.

Dressing In a bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients, giving everything a good stir so that all the ingredients are properly incorporated. Then add the potatoes and beluga lentils and give it a stir.

Add the watercress, baby spinach, extra dill and walnuts just before serving so that they don’t get too soggy from the dressing. Serve immediately.

Tip: I always find that this salad tastes so much better the day after it has been made because that way the ingredients have had time to marry. Just make sure you leave the leafy bits out until you are ready to serve.

Extracted from Happy Food: Fast, Fresh, Simple Vegan by Bettina Campolucci Bordi (Hardie Grant, £20) Photography © Nassima Rothacker

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