Smoked Fish and Quail's Egg Salad

I created this simple salad for a dinner party a couple of years ago, and we have served it in the pub where it has proved very popular, both as a starter but also as a light lunch. It is a great antidote to the excesses of Christmas feasting, because it satisfies everyone's New Year resolution to eat more healthily while providing just enough warming stodge to keep out the winter chill, especially if served with some crusty bread from the oven. As usual with most of my dishes, there are endless variations... it can easily be de-poshed and de-caloried! Quantities are virtually impossible to define - this is really about texture and taste (and all too often what is left in the fridge) - but if you start with the salad leaves as a guide, you can build from there. For this reason I usually create each salad for each person individually, rather than serve it in a large bowl for everyone to help themselves - but it's up to you!

Green salad leaves (any variation but those with some crunch work really well, like cos or little gem hearts)

Cucumber

Spring onion

Apple

Eggs (soft or hard boiled)

Warm boiled potatoes

Smoked fish fillet (hot-smoked salmon or trout preferably)

Parsley

Chives

Hollandaise or horseradish dressing

You can just chuck everything together, but I think it does look better if you take a little time to arrange things. I start by laying a bed of salad leaves, and then add some cucumber rounds cut in half and some apple slices. I leave the skin on the apples to add some colour. (Depending on how colour-conscious you are you might want to keep everything to a limited palette - in which case green apples are best, but perhaps for a winter meal a flash of dappled red will lift it. In the summer, I like to put the apples in the fridge for a good hour beforehand, so you get that wonderful contrast between ice-cold crisp from the fruit and soft melting warmth from the potato.)

The potatoes are best boiled - in the summer the baby new potatoes in their skins are perfect for this dish, but there is nothing wrong with using the larger older varieties if you peel them and cut them into bite-size pieces. After cooking, toss them in real butter or olive oil and salt and pepper when still hot, then let them cool slightly, before adding them on top of your layer of leaves. I usually use quails' eggs cut in half because they look so neat and taste wonderful, but if it is not for a special occasion then hens' eggs work just fine cut into quarters. I prefer them to be soft-boiled so the velvety yolk oozes out and gently coats the other ingredients. I don't tend to toss things together because each mouthful should taste slightly different and also the eggs are likely to break up. The spring onion works best I think cut small and scattered.

Then lay two small fillets of smoked trout or hot-smoked salmon on the top in a cross, and dress with a spoonful of hollandaise or drizzle over some horseradish dressing. This is easy to prepare with mayonaise or creme fraiche combined with horseradish to taste. Finish by scattering over some chopped parsley and some uncut whole chives.

For family catering on a budget, you could use iceberg lettuce, tuna which the children will like, and plain mayonaise. They will probably turn up their noses at the parsley and chives - it is disparagingly known as 'grass' in this family!