Green party: Mark Hix's sensational spring salads

Forget the sad bag of supermarket salad - now is the time to get creative with fresh seasonal leaves

Now is the time when I start thinking about creating tasty and innovative salads for the spring and summer. You can't get much healthier than a simply assembled salad made with really fresh ingredients – and don't even think about grabbing one of those sad bags of fancy mixed salad leaves from the supermarket which are boring, limp and flavourless. Why does everybody seem to have a packet floating around at the bottom of their fridge?

My favourite new leaves at the moment are delicious pea shoots. Pea shoots are the young, tender stems and leaves of the pea plant and they're full of flavour as well as being very healthy – they contain vitamin C and folic acid; and they're also low in calories.

Vitacress are currently marketing proper pea shoots to the general public; you can buy them in Waitrose, M&S and Sainsbury's. They are a million miles away from the tiny examples you get in mustard and cress pots.

Lamb meatball salad

Serves 4-6

This dish has a bit of a Moroccan theme to it, but you could easily add other related ingredients that you have in your larder such as olives, chickpeas and pickled chillies.

Butchers and supermarkets normally sell decent mince at fairly reasonable prices and you can make a good amount of meatballs out of just half a kilo of mince which will be enough for a dinner party or family meal.

For the meatballs

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
tbsp ground cumin
1tsp paprika
2-3tbsp vegetable or corn oil
500g minced lamb
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g fresh white breadcrumbs

For the salad

4 long red or normal red peppers
Half a cucumber
2 hearts of cos lettuce, washed
A couple of handfuls of rocket, washed
A handful of mint leaves
2tbsp natural yoghurt
The juice of 1 lemon
4-5tbsp olive oil

First make the meatballs: gently cook the onion, garlic, cumin and paprika in a tablespoon of the vegetable oil for 2-3 minutes until soft, stirring every so often then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Mix the onions with the minced lamb and breadcrumbs and season well. Make a little tester by frying a piece of the mix, adjusting the seasoning and spices if necessary. Roll the meat into 50 pence-piece sized balls, flatten slightly and place on a tray in the fridge.

Meanwhile, halve the peppers lengthways and remove the seeds and stalk if using long ones or quarter normal ones. Place on a tray, skin side up, and place under a hot grill until the skins are black, then put them in a plastic bag for about 5-10 minutes to ease removing the skins.

In the meantime, heat some of the vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan and cook the meatballs in batches, depending on the size of your pan, for 2-3 minutes on each side and browning them nicely.

While the meatballs are cooking, break up the large cos leaves and mix in a bowl with the rocket and two-thirds of the mint leaves. Chop the rest of the leaves and mix with the yoghurt. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil together and toss with the leaves, then transfer to one large bowl or individual serving bowls. Cut the peppers down a bit and arrange among and on the leaves with the meatballs, then spoon the yoghurt on top.

Spring leek and mussel vinaigrette

Serves 4

Young leeks make a great starter simply boiled and served with a punchy dressing. There are some lovely skinny spring leeks around, or you could use the thicker ones and cook them for longer.

500g or so of young spring leeks, trimmed and washed
700-800g live mussels
Half a glass of white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

1tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
2tsp Dijon mustard
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3tbsp vegetable or corn oil
2tbsp capers, rinsed
A handful of flat-leaved parsley, chopped

Scrub the mussels if necessary and remove the beards. Place them in a large pan with the white wine and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook on a high heat, shaking and turning the mussels with a spoon every so often until they have all opened, then drain in a colander over a bowl to reserve the cooking liquid. Once they are cool enough to handle, remove all of them from the shell.

Simmer the cooking liquid down to about a tablespoonful and strain into a bowl, then add the vinegar and mustard and whisk in the oils, capers and parsley; season. Cook the leeks in boiling salted water for 2-4 minutes, until tender, and drain. Arrange the leeks on individual dishes or 1 large serving dish; scatter the mussels over and spoon on the dressing.

Griddled prawn and asparagus salad

Serves 4 as a main

There are lots of irresponsibly caught prawns on the market, so try to buy the sustainable sea water variety; some of the best are the fresh red sea prawns at Waitrose. I like to recommend prawns in the shell because, as I always say, you can use the shells for a stock for soup which makes them better value for money. Thin sprue asparagus are ideal for a salad and normally a bit cheaper than the thicker asparagus.

My spring salad leaves are up and growing in the garden now, so I have gathered rocket, land cress, silver sorrel and some wild bittercress for this salad, along with some green herbs.

20 or so medium-sized, preferably fresh, sea water prawns in the shell
A tablespoon of vegetable or corn oil for brushing
250-300g sprue asparagus, trimmed of any woody stalks
A couple of handfuls of small salad leaves and green herbs, washed and dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

1tbsp white wine vinegar
2tsp Dijon or Tewksbury mustard
4-5tbsp extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil

Remove the heads from the prawns and peel away the shells, leaving the tails on. Make a cut down the back of the prawn with a sharp knife and rinse away the dark sac. Heat a ribbed griddle pan or heavy frying pan and brush with a little oil. Season and cook the prawns for 2-3 minutes on each side on a high heat, then transfer to a plate. Meanwhile, cook the asparagus in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, or longer if thicker, and drain.

Whisk all of the ingredients together for the dressing and season. To serve, cut the asparagus in half and arrange with the salad leaves and prawns in serving bowls or on plates, and spoon the dressing over.

Guinea fowl salad with cumin cabbage and mustard dressing

Serves 4 as a main

Guinea fowl is a tasty alternative to chicken, and although most of them tend to be French, there are a handful of UK producers rearing great birds, such as the Ark Chicken Company in Devon (arkchicken.co.uk; 01392 860430).

2 oven-ready guinea fowl
Vegetable or corn oil for brushing
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful of salad and herb leaves, washed

For the spiced cabbage
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2tsp cumin seeds
1tsp ground cumin
Half a small white cabbage
1tbsp white wine vinegar
250ml chicken stock

For the mustard dressing

1tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
1tsp Dijon mustard
1tbsp grain mustard
2tbsp olive oil
2tbsp vegetable or corn oil

Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. First make the cabbage. Cook the onion and cumin in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes on a low heat, stirring every so often, until softened. Add the cabbage, season and continue cooking and stirring for another 3-4 minutes. Add the vinegar and stock and cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until almost all the liquid has evaporated and the cabbage still has a bit of a crunch. Remove from heat; leave to cool. Meanwhile, place the guinea fowl in a roasting tray, season and brush with oil and roast for about 45 minutes, basting the breasts every so often, keeping the bird pink. Remove the legs from the guinea fowl and cut away the meat into bite-sized pieces. Remove the breasts with a knife; cut in half on the angle.

To serve, whisk the ingredients together for the dressing, spoon the cabbage into serving bowls and scatter the leaves and leg meat around. Arrange the breast on the cabbage and spoon over the dressing.