Nigel Slater’s early summer salad recipes

Zesty noodle salad with sprouted beans, and papaya with passion fruit and ginger – luscious and refreshing dishes best eaten outdoors

As the days warm up, I find myself in need of recipes that involve slightly less time spent at a hot stove. The sort of unhurried cooking that fits comfortably into summer living, when there seems to be less time to cook and when the great outdoors beckons. There is not one of this month’s collection of recipes we haven’t eaten outdoors, mostly at the table but a couple eaten on our laps sitting on the kitchen steps.