March is a great month for new flavours and straddles the stodgy comfort foods of winter and the lighter, brighter salads of summer – giving you the best of both worlds. From the tangy Slipcote cheese, to mouthwatering Dorset lamb and tasty wild salmon along with fresh watercress, sorrel, radishes and salad onions. So what are you waiting for? Lay the table!

Spring supper
Get to grips with salmon and you can have fast food that's good for you in less time than it takes to cook a ready meal or programme Pizza Express into your speed-dial. Wild salmon is at its best in March and can be shallow pan fried in minutes and served on a bed of salad. Tangy watercress is in season and you can really rev up your taste buds by adding a little raw radish.
The radish was a staple food in ancient times and has been cultivated into many varieties from the large Mediterranean white radish to the Orient red and black radishes. They've fallen out of favour recently as something old fashioned that your granny might pack for a picnic but the red variety are excellent when eaten as part of a salad. Look for bright green leaves for a great peppery flavour.
Sorrel is another underrated veg in season this month and the young and tender leaves add a lovely lemony tang to salads. Choose leaves that are less than six inches long when you're eating sorrel raw (save the larger ones for cooking and treat like spinach) and roughly chop. Because of its strong flavour, you can cut back on the amount of lemon and vinegar in any dressings when you're using sorrel and it's great for dieters as it adds a real flavour hit without the need for salt or rich sauces.

Saturday snack
On a recent trip to the country (oh, okay, half an hour on the train from Clapham Junction) the Sussex contingent were raving about cheese. Well, nothing new there you may think, but this one was something special.
With Spring on its way the days are getting longer and the grass really is greener. All the sheep in Sussex are chomping through lush meadows and producing rich, creamy milk that's great for cheese. Farmers found that the ewe's milk produced a sweet and crumbly cheese and named it Slipcote – after the cheese curds that matured too quickly and so 'slipped out' of their cloth. Try it with some crusty sourdough bread, a drizzle of olive oil and a smear of a garlic clove for a hearty rustic lunch.

Mid week dinner
Fat British salad onions come into season in March and – frankly – deserve a little recognition. Pubs up and down the country have been serving dishes with curly salad onion garnishes since before time began and on a recent trip I discovered how they do it: cut a salad onion in half lengthways and slice very thinly before dunking in iced water for 20 minutes and watch the slivers miraculously curl up of their own accord. Amazing. For a tasty supper, roast salad onions whole with a drizzle of oil for a lovely gooey bulb and a slightly frazzled, barbecued end. These taste great with a crisped-up chicken breast cooked in its skin and plenty of salt in a hot oven with seasonal carrots and leeks.

Sunday lunch
Dorset lamb is beautiful this month and, as if any other excuse were needed to indulge, its perfect partner, mint, is also 'in'. For a twist on the traditional roast lamb and mint sauce, try grilling lamb chops and serving with seasonal purple sprouting broccoli and beetroot crisps.
For the crisps, thinly slice the beetroot, salt generously and place on a baking tray in a hot oven for 20 minutes – keeping an eye on them if you don't want charred chips and a smoke filled kitchen.
For the mint sauce, take a good handful of leaves, chop, add a pinch of white sugar and a teaspoon of malt vinegar and blend in a food processor for 10 seconds.
This dish is deceptively easy but impressive enough to cook up for a crowd – just serve on one large platter and let everyone help themselves while you sit back and bask in the glory.
For a gorgeous three-course Sunday lunch of traditional lamb, see our new recipe section

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