Growing up there was always a salad with dinner. Mostly a mesclun mix with a balsamic vinegar dressing that my dad would drink the remains of while doing the dishes thinking no one was watching. I love those nostalgic salads, a crunchy iceberg salad, or a cos lettuce with a green goddess dressing that was so popular in San Francisco when we were living there. Or this one, my absolute favourite. We eat a version of this multiple times a week – with a risotto, a pasta, or just with bread for lunch.

This isn’t really a recipe but just a reminder of a few salady things that mix together well. Toss some bitter raddichio, peppery rocket, sweet pear, crunchy hazelnuts and salty parmesan together. Perhaps a few other leaves that you have in the fridge- endive is particularly good with this combination. Add a lemon and olive oil dressing and you have yourself something magical.

Being a public holiday in America today, Ollie didn’t have meetings so we could sit down and eat lunch together. Clementine was sleeping, Charlie at preschool, Lilias and Oscar at school. The sun was shining and the doors were wide open to let in the crisp winter air. We don’t get many moments together like this so it made the salad, coffee and company all the better.