Mark Hix recipe: Grilled cucumber with crab and samphire

Serves 4

Subtle flavour: Grilled cucumber with crab and samphire (Jason Lowe)

I'm a big fan of cooked cucumber, the flavour changes a lot, like a courgette or marrow, and has more of a subtle flavour than the raw variety.

1 cucumber, cut in half then cut lengthways into ½cm slices
A little vegetable or corn oil for brushing
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
120-150g cooked white crab meat
A handful of samphire with the tough woody ends removed

For the dressing

1 red chilli, finely chopped
The grated zest of ½ a lemon
2-3tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
The juice of half a lemon

Heat a ribbed griddle or heavy frying pan on a medium heat, lightly brush it with oil and cook the cucumber slices for about 40-50 seconds on each side until tender.

Meanwhile, mix all of the ingredients for the dressing and season.

To serve, blanch the samphire in boiling water for 20 seconds, then drain.

Arrange the cucumber on serving plates then spoon the crab on top and the dressing over and around all of it; scatter the samphire over.