I’ve said it before and of course, I’ll say it again, the Indian summer is best dealt with by treating it as nature’s do-it-yourself spa. Use the humidity to detoxify: spritz some lemon or mint into your drinking water, drink it slightly warm and wear only the loosest, whitest, muslin clothes and you’ll deal with the gentle perspiration nicely.

Exfoliating with oats or sugar or soaked whole mung, ground to a granular paste, then moisturising with a light lotion mixed with rosewater or eau de cologne or jasmine infused olive oil made at home... ahhh, you see where I’m going with this?
In the last couple of weeks we’ve rediscovered eating colourful, bright, early evening meals. They help us wake up to the blistering mornings in a better frame of body and mind. A small portion of grilled fish or even meat served with a heaping plateful of leaves, peppers, olives, avocadoes, onions, tomatoes brings the entire family to the table with much enthusiasm. Perhaps we’re subconsciously trying to recreate magical summer weeks spent with friends in the UK and Europe using outdoor barbeques and the freshest produce. The organic farmers in Sussex would walk through their field and pick the best tomatoes and leaves. Our Frenchie foster family in the French Alps shopped at a farmers’ market or their neighbour came by with home-grown mint and a huge pumpkin. By 7 pm each evening, slabs of meat and fillets of fish that had been sitting in nothing more than some crushed garlic would be placed over glowing coal. Cooked to perfection, they’d be brought to the table with massive bowls of fresh salad, tomatoes dusted with sea salt and pepper and crusty bread. We’d fill our plates, eat and talk animatedly, then press hunks of bread down into the oils and juices to finish.
Whether for inside the body or out, weekend prepping just a little bit is an invaluable investment in your wellbeing. Try making some of these salad dressings and bottling them. Then on your way back home, all you need is a pile of fresh leaves, some tomatoes and anything else that looks good and you’ve made yourself a summer-spa treat!

You can start a conversation with the author about food at http://loveinthekitchenlaughteratthetable. blogspot.com

Roast Red Pepper Garlic and Oregan
Again, simple but with an evolved taste that works as well on robust leaves as well as namby-pamby iceberg and simply great with tuna and rocket on multi-grain bread.

Ingredients:

2 red peppers
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
Pinch of salt
A few drops of Tabasco (optional)
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

Method:

Roast the red peppers on an open flame. When the skin is charred, put in a glass bowl and cover and leave to sweat for 10 minutes. Peel the charred skin off. Puncture a small hole in the bottom of the pepper and drain the water within the pepper into your dressing bowl. This adds to the flavour of your dressing. Tear open the pepper and remove the stalk and as many of the seeds as possible. Chop roughly. Crush the garlic cloves and add to the bowl with the peppers and fresh oregano. Puree with a hand blender. Add salt. Puree again and taste. Then with the blender on, add oil until emulsified.

Parmesan Olive Oil Lemon and Parsley

This is best on a salad full of personality. Use at least three out of the following: fresh basil leaves, rocket, baby spinach, fresh sage, oak leaf lettuce, purple lettuce, romaine or the Indian ‘salad patta’. Basil is pretty much integral. Throw in olives, avocado, roast red peppers, toasted walnuts... Don’t put tomatoes or onions in this one as they will grab all the attention.

Ingredients:

¼ cup grated parmesan
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Pinch of salt

Method:
Combine dressing ingredients. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Dress salad the instant you’re putting it on the table. Not before because the salad will wilt immediately. It will still be delicious but not as pretty to look at.

Roast Garlic and Lemon Zest

This is the simplest, most rewarding salad dressing. Creamy when pureed and smoky and deep, it transforms even the most lacklustre leaves into something delightful. Make a large amount and leave it in a wide-mouthed jar on the table with a pastry brush and you can brush it on simply grilled fish and meat, vegetables. You could also use it to mix into pasta salad, make scrambled eggs sexy or brush it on toast for an insta-bruschetta. Add herbs for variety. If you’re not confident of being able to roast without burning, then cover the head of garlic in foil.

Ingredients:

1 whole head of garlic
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Zest of two lemons
Pinch of salt

Method:

On a warm tava on low heat, roast the unpeeled head of garlic for about 30 minutes, turning as the skin burns gently.

Benihana Ginger Salad Dressing
This lovely light salad dressing is unusual. Credited to the famous Benihana chain of restaurants it’ll be great on meat or fresh vegetables. Even as we speak, I’m grilling soy-sesame chicken and steaming snow peas and this will be the dressing for a pile of baby spinach that goes with it.

Ingredients:
¼ cup peanut oil
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp soy sauce
¼ cup chopped onion
2 tbsp chopped celery
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Make sure the chopped ingredients are very finely chopped. Then combine, whisk briskly for about 2 minutes and leave to stand for 1 hour for the flavours to develop.

Waldorf Salad Dressing
The Waldorf Salad. Can you say that with a straight face? Still... it’s a classic and like all classics, it can take the odd joke poked at it. So, you can use it on silly iceberg lettuce and it will grant it dignity.

½ cup chopped, lightly toasted walnuts
½ cup celery
½ cup red seedless grapes
1 medium apple
3 tbsp mayonnaise (sour cream is also good)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Toast the walnuts and then pound them roughly by hand. Slice the celery very finely. Slice the grapes. Chop the apple as finely as you can. Mix well with the mayonnaise or squeeze the lemon juice into the cream to sour it. Mix with the olive oil and when ready pour on lots of freshly washed and dried leaves.

Greek Salad Dressing
Dean and DeLuca came up with this one. Using Greek salad ingredients to make a leafy salad dressing. Brilliant! It also works with the chunky Waldorf salad. This is a great trick for conventional palates and people who don’t consider salad a ‘real meal’.

Ingredients:

1 tomato
1 cucumber
¼ cup black olives
½ tbsp thyme leaves
½ tbsp oregano leaves
½ cup finely chopped red onion
½ cup feta cheese
2 tbsp lime juice or red wine vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Chop everything very finely and mash into a bowl together. Add the oil and mix as well as possible. This won’t last more than 3 or 4 days so eat it quite soon after you make it.