It’s usually about this time when we need some inspiration for our summer salad repertoire. Stand up spice pro and chef John Gregory-Smith. Quick to throw together but bursting with the sort of zingy flavours that make you think you’re the other side of the world, this dish is sure to impress.

Kc al: 521 per serving

Fat: 19.8g per serving

Sat Fat: 3.7g per serving

Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (Serves 2):

• 140g vermicelli rice noodles
• 1 pink grapefruit
• 2 spring onions
• 30g pea shoots
• 150g cooked and peeled crayfish tails
• Small handful of basil leaves
• Small handful of mint leaves
• 2 tbsps pumpkin seeds

For the dressing:

• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 2 limes
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsps sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

Step 1: Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover and leave aside for three minutes to soften then drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Drain again and squeeze out any excess water with your hands so they are really dry.

Step 2: Remove the tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and cut off the ends of the stalks. Starting at the fatter end, roughly slice each stalk into rings. Stop slicing when you can no longer see the purple band in the rings and discard the rest because it will be too tough to eat.

Step 3: Very finely chop the lemongrass rings then tip into a large mixing bowl. Squeeze in the juice from the limes and add the chilli powder, sugar and oil. Whisk it all together.

Step 4: Using a sharp knife, cut the top and bottom off the grapefruit, then carefully slice the skin off in sections, cutting from the top to bottom. Remove any remaining pith, then cut out the juicy pieces from the membrane and put them into the bowl with the dressing.

Step 5: Trim and finely slice the spring onions, then add them to the bowl. Chuck in the pea shoots, crayfish, basil, mint and cooked noodles. Toss together well, then serve with the pumpkin seeds scattered over the top.

Mighty Spice Express by John Gregory- Smith (£20, Duncan Baird Publishers) is out now; mightyspicekitchen.com