A good salad in summer is mostly about the produce. If the tomatoes are ripe and the leaves are fresh, you do not need much else. But there are a few structural things that make the difference between a salad that holds together and one that goes soggy before you finish it.

Start with the leaves

The base matters. Iceberg holds up well but has almost no flavour. Rocket has flavour but wilts fast once dressed. A mix of little gem (for structure), rocket (for bite), and red oak leaf (for colour and a mild sweetness) gives you something that works on every level. Our loose salad leaves are cut to order and sold by weight, so you can take exactly what you need for one meal.

Add something with texture

A salad that is all soft things is not very interesting to eat. Ridge cucumbers have a better crunch than the long hothouse kind and hold up longer once sliced. Radishes, if you like them, add a sharp snap. Toasted seeds or a handful of croutons give you something to bite into without overwhelming the vegetables.

The tomato question

Tomatoes in a salad go wrong in two ways: they are either underripe and flavourless, or they are too ripe and make everything wet. The answer is to salt them separately for ten minutes before adding them. Slice, salt lightly, let them sit in a colander, then add them to the salad just before serving. The salt draws out excess moisture and concentrates the flavour.

Dressing: less than you think

Most people overdress a salad. A good rule is to dress the leaves lightly first, toss, and then add more only if it looks dry. For summer salads, a simple ratio of three parts good olive oil to one part white wine vinegar or lemon juice, with a small amount of Dijon mustard to emulsify, is enough. The produce should be doing most of the work.

Herbs as an ingredient, not a garnish

Fresh herbs change a salad completely when you use them generously rather than scattering a few leaves on top. Tear a good handful of basil into a tomato salad. Add dill to anything with cucumber. Flat-leaf parsley works with almost everything. We sell cut bunches from £1.20, which is enough for two or three meals.

The best summer salads we have eaten were made with four or five ingredients, all of them very good. Restraint and good produce are the whole recipe.