Thomasina Miers’ tomato salad with smoky chipotle dressing and pickled onions. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke. View image in fullscreen Thomasina Miers’ tomato salad with smoky chipotle dressing and pickled onions. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke. Food Smoky chipotle tomatoes and chargrilled courgettes: Thomasina Miers’ barbecued meze recipes Sweetness and smoke are at the fore of these summer salads
Thomasina Miers Wed 1 Jul 2026 07.00 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google W e are at one of my favourite times of the year, but also one of the busiest, with the world seemingly hell-bent on fitting everything in before the summer starts proper. For us, family birthdays abound, with celebrations to organise, cakes to dream up and a constant worry about finding the right presents. Our anniversary is mostly forgotten amid the chaos! What is not forgotten is our deep love of sitting outdoors over long summer evenings that appear to make time stretch magically, languorously. Whether it’s lighting the barbecue or simply turning to my ancient but beloved griddle, a bit of Butch Cassidy-style smoke and swagger is what I am looking for in my food. Chargrilling courgettes brings out their sweetness, and givesthem tantalising, smoky notes, while smoked chillies lend even the freshest salad some attitude. Happy days.
A light, juicy, refreshing tomato salad with smoky background notes and a nutty finish.
Prep 10 min Cook 15 min Serves 4 1 red onion , peeled, halved and finely sliced Zest and juice of 1 lime Zest and juice of 1 orange 1 tsp caster sugar Salt and black pepper 500g mixed tomatoes – the best you can find 30-40g mixed soft herbs (tarragon, dill, basil, say), leaves finely chopped 2 large handfuls rocket 80g feta , crumbled 45g sli vered almonds , toasted
For the dressing 1 heaped tsp dijon mustard 1 heaped tsp chipotle en adobo 1 heaped tsp soft brown sugar 1 tbsp sherry vinegar 4-5 tbsp olive oil
Mix the onion with the zest and juice of the lime plus that of half the orange. Season with the sugar and a teaspoon of salt, then leave the onion to soften in the citrus juices for 30 minutes while you get on with the rest of the salad.
In a small jam jar, mix the mustard, chipotle, brown sugar, vinegar and the remaining orange juice, season generously, then slowly whisk in the olive oil to create an emulsion.
Cut the tomatoes into rough, unequal chunks – have fun with this: cut baby tomatoes in half and larger tomatoes into wedges. You are looking for bite-size pieces.
Once the onions are ready, toss them with the tomatoes and chopped herbs. Arrange the rocket over a serving dish, top with the tomatoes and crumble over the feta. Scatter with the almonds and serve at once.
View image in fullscreen Thomasina Miers’ grilled courgette salad with green lentils, watercress and green pistachio macha. If you see any yellow courgettes, a mix of yellow and green makes for a particularly lovely-looking salad.
150g dried green lentils Salt and black pepper 2 garlic cloves , peeled Extra-virgin olive oil 4 large courgettes – a mix of green and yellow, ideally 1 shallot , peeled and finely sliced
For the dressing 2 green chillies , preferably jalapeño 40g mint leaves 40g flat-leaf parsley leaves 1 tsp honey Juice of 2 fat limes 10g sea salt 30g pi…