Peaches and peas with a chickpea dressing

The South East of England has been blessed with a wonderful summer so far (although our garden must be thrilled about the rain overnight!). We've been eating quite a few salads, as one never seems particularly hungry in hot weather. This recipe makes use of fresh peas - a delicacy that, in my opinion, should never be subjected to any form of cooking.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the salad

rocket leaves, enough for four portions

150g fresh peas (about 400g unshelled weight)

4 ripe peaches or nectarines, stoned and quartered

2 salad or spring onions, sliced

1 medium cucumber, peeled and thickly sliced

seeds of one pomegranate

1/2 cup / 80g cooked chickpeas, optional

For the dressing

2 cups / 320g cooked chickpeas

2 large cloves garlic

1 tsp cumin, dry roasted and ground

1 tsp ground paprika

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)

freshly ground rock salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 cup / 125ml yoghurt

1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses

3 - 4 Tbsp water

Method

1. Whiz together all the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor.

2. If you'd like to thin it down more, add another tablespoon or two of water.

3. Dress the rocket leaves with some olive oil and a splash of apple cider vinegar.

4. Arrange the salad ingredients on 4 plates and drizzle over the dressing.

5. If you were using a tin of chickpeas, you could add the remaining chickpeas to the salad.