As a schoolgirl, I worked in the Ladies’ Separates department of Palmers in (Great) Yarmouth. I spent a lot of time standing to attention, being very polite and folding Dalkeith jumpers. It was an excellent education. We had a lunch break and I would go out to find something to eat. Normally this would mean a visit to Nichols Noted Chip Saloon on the market, but on very hot days it might be salad bap.

“Ham, egg or cheese, my darlin’ ?” (I think green salad came along a lot later.) These three would be doused with salad cream in a buttery bap and not a herb in sight.

Times move on. We have been experiencing a long stretch of hot weather in London and only salad will do. So, to answer the question above, I have made a cheese salad for lunch today:

• Ingredients: 50g Beenleigh Blue* sheep’s cheese, cubed. Two spring onions, a handful of mixed leaves (these are watercress and young beet), a stem of fennel, a few inches of cucumber, half a red pepper, one green chili, one or two tomatoes, a few slices of pear, fresh basil and plenty of parsley, 20ml olive oil, half a lemon, salt and pepper,

• Method: In a large bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, Add some mustard if you want to. Stir it all up with a wooden spoon, then put in the washed and sliced spring onions, cucumber and after a minute or two all the other vegetable ingredients. It should be a punchy mix to balance the fantastic Beenleigh, which goes in last, together with a few black olives.

And that’s it. Takes about as long as buying something in a shop. Serve with home made bread and a glass of something cold. If you are hungry add another slice of the delectable Beenleigh Blue, *which is made by Ticklemore Cheese, Devon.

Leftovers are good stirred into freshly cooked rice. (I’m trying to cut down on chips)