Dad was a great man for the frying pan, he loved a good old fry up and made the tastiest Irish Potato Bread ever. He wasn’t a man for salads but during the summer months you would find him busy in the kitchen, putting together this simple yet tasty salad… which I call, Dad’s Summer Salad.

Ingredients are few and the salad is best made with the soft buttery leaves of Boston lettuce. One of my essential kitchen tools when making salads is a salad spinner, takes all the work out of drying washed lettuce leaves. Use the freshest eggs possible and if you manage to get eggs from happy hens, even better. There is no need to make a salad dressing, juice released from the chopped tomatoes is enough to lightly coat the salad ingredients when tossed together. Best to choose fully ripened tomatoes. It really is that simple and a perfect salad if you are watching the calories… although we never made it for that reason.

Serve Dad’s summer salad on top of thick slices of home-made wholemeal bread for a quick-lunch or use this salad as a filling for making salad sandwiches, using the freshest sliced white or brown bread. I often serve salad sandwiches along with some sweet treats for afternoon tea and they have always gone down a treat. This salad is fresh and light and made from memories of warm summer days, produce from the garden or farmers markets, eggs from happy hens and of course Dad’s recipe… can only taste the best.