A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.

The taste of any simple tomato-based salad is dependent on the quality of the tomatoes.

Vegetarian and frugal it may be, but the chickpea is one of the most versatile ingredients you could keep in your cupboards.

Good asparagus needs minimal treatment and is best eaten with few other ingredients.

Take your average couscous salad, and it's almost always a sloppy mush, no matter how much attention has gone into getting flavours in there.

Middle Eastern cuisine has the same depth of ingredients and processes as other cuisines. They just haven't had as much exposure.