Squid, heritage tomato and garden herb salad

Serves 4

Use a selection of fragrant herbs from the garden to create this easy-to-prepare and refreshing starter (Jason Lowe)

Squid is such a versatile fish and shouldn't just end up deep-fried in batter (though I do have a bit of a soft spot for calamares a la romana). You can use a selection of fragrant herbs from the garden such as mint, lovage, basil, coriander and sorrel to create this perfect, easy-to-prepare and refreshing starter. My friend Hieu at London's Cay Tre restaurant does a Vietnamese version of this with Asian herbs which is equally simple.

400-450g mixed tomatoes
400g squid, cleaned and cut into rough 3cm pieces
A little vegetable or corn oil for brushing
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful of garden herb leaves: basil, mint, lovage, flat parsley, sorrel
3-4tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil
The juice of half a medium lemon, or more if required
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces, some wedges and some chunks, depending on the sizes of the tomatoes. Mix the tomatoes in a bowl with the herbs, rapeseed oil and lemon juice and season. Preheat a ribbed griddle or heavy frying pan and lightly oil it, season the squid and cook briefly on the griddle for about 30-40 seconds on each side, then transfer to the bowl with the tomatoes and mix well. Arrange on serving plates.