This is still one of my favourite salads: generous enough to feel like a proper meal, full of colour and endlessly adaptable to whatever happens to be in the kitchen. The combination of meaty hot-smoked salmon, warm buttery potatoes, golden aubergine and cool fresh vegetables makes every forkful a little different.

The quantities below make two substantial portions, but think of the vegetables as a useful starting point rather than a rigid rule. Pepper, tomatoes and cucumber can all move with the season; the essentials are the salmon, warm potatoes and sharp mustard dressing that bring everything together.

Method

1. Cook the potatoes. Put the new potatoes into a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15–20 minutes, depending on size, until a knife slides in easily but the potatoes still hold their shape. Drain well and cut into halves or quarters.
2. Prepare the aubergine. Cut it into strips about 1cm thick, like chunky chips. Modern aubergines are rarely bitter, so salting is optional; if yours is particularly large or mature, salt the pieces lightly, leave for 15 minutes and pat them thoroughly dry.
3. Season the aubergine. Mix 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with the juice of half the lemon, the dried herbs and black pepper. Coat the aubergine strips in the mixture.
4. Cook until golden. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the aubergine for about 12–15 minutes, turning regularly, until golden on every side and completely tender. Set aside somewhere warm.

5. Warm the potatoes. Put the drained potatoes into the same pan over a low heat with the butter and half the parsley. Toss gently for 2–3 minutes until glossy and warm, then take the pan off the heat.
6. Make the dressing. Put the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of the remaining lemon half, white wine vinegar and English mustard into a clean jar. Close the lid and shake vigorously until combined. Taste, season with black pepper and add the honey or sugar only if the dressing feels too sharp.
7. Prepare the fresh ingredients. Halve the tomatoes, chop the cucumber and pepper, slice the spring onions and chilli, and cut the avocado into wedges. Different shapes make the finished salad look generous and interesting, so there is no need to make everything uniform.

8. Assemble the plates. Divide the warm potatoes between two plates and arrange the aubergine, avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, spring onions and chilli around them so every ingredient can be seen.
9. Add the salmon. Break the hot-smoked salmon into generous flakes and place it over the centre. Crumble over the feta and scatter with the remaining parsley.
10. Dress and serve. Spoon over enough dressing to lightly coat the salad and serve while the potatoes and aubergine are still warm.

If you enjoy colourful salads that eat like a full meal, try my goat’s cheese filo parcels with tomato carpaccio.