Watermelon with Mexican spices, Malaysian mangos, Sichuanese aubergines

Fresh and tangy, bright and spicy … keep cool with easy dishes from brilliant cooks such as Georgina Hayden and Fuchsia Dunlop

Georgina Hayden

There is little better than sweet, cooling watermelon on a long, hot summer’s day. And pairing it with salty feta (or halloumi if you’re in Cyprus) is a duo I embrace wholeheartedly. Sometimes I just eat the two ingredients straight up, sometimes they are the heroes in a salad. This is how I go about making mine, switching the coriander with mint depending on my mood (feel free to use both if you have them). To elevate that holiday feeling I often finish it with one of my favourite seasonings – tajin. It’s a Mexican spice blend made from chilli, lime and salt, and is equally at home on the rim of a margarita glass or sprinkled over a plate of ripe pineapple. It is mild, highly addictive and works perfectly in this excellent salad.

Serves 4pumpkin seeds 30g watermelon 1.25kg, rind removed spring onions 6, trimmed and finely slicedlime juice of 1extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp sea salt and freshly ground black peppercoriander 50g bunchtajin spice mix 2-3 tsp feta 100g

Place the pumpkin seeds in a small frying pan and toast over a medium heat. As soon as they start to pop and smell nutty remove from the heat, transfer to a plate and leave to cool.

Cut the watermelon into 3cm cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the spring onions, lime juice and olive oil and season generously. Roughly chop the coriander leaves, finely chop the stalks and add to the bowl with 2 teaspoons of the tajin. Toss everything together well, then add the toasted pumpkin seeds and crumble in the feta. Stir through and taste, adding more tajin if needed. Serve straight away.

Georgina Hayden is a food writer. Her most recent book is Nistisima (Bloomsbury, £26)

Julie Lin

This is a kerabu salad from Malaysia and Indonesia that can have different ingredients in it but must be tangy and spicy. Use whatever you have that’s fresh – pineapple and apple work well too. This dish is something that would cool me down in the warm heat of Malacca. It’s full of big, bright, fishy flavours from the dried shrimp and belachan. I appreciate a lot of raw ingredients in a salad so beansprouts, cucumber and mango work well here. I love the crunch and zingyness. The chilli adds in that extra level of spice to induce a sweat that will cool you down. Pain for gain here.

Serves 2For the pastedried shrimp 1 tbsp (available online)peanuts 2 tbsp belachan (dried shrimp paste) 1 tbsp (available online)ginger 3cm, cut into 1cm chunks

For the dressinglimes juice of 3palm sugar 60g salt

For the saladcucumber 1, juliennedmango ½, julienned long red chilli ½, julienned banana shallot 1, finely slicedcoriander 3 sprigs, finely choppedThai basil 3 sprigs, finely choppedmint 3 sprigs, finely choppedbeansprouts 200g

Toast the dried shrimp, peanuts and belachan in a pan, then place in a mortar, along with the ginger, and use the pestle to grind everything together until crushed and combined into a gritty paste.

Whisk the dressing ingredients in a bowl, add the paste, season with salt to your taste. Set aside while you get the fresh ingredients together.

In a separate bowl, combine the cucumber, mango, chilli and shallot with the coriander, Thai basil and mint, then add the beansprouts and mix.

Drizzle over the dressing; serve immediately.

Julie Lin is a chef and cofounder of Ga Ga, 566 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6RH

Louisa Allan & Shuki Rosenboim

We can see this bright salad on the table when you might have lots of people over.

Serves 4walnuts 50g cherries 500g, pittedred onion 1⁄2, finely dicedcoriander 2 handfuls, choppedlong green chilli 1, deseeded and finely choppedlemon juice of 1 extra virgin olive oil 80ml sea salt flakes

Preheat the oven to 160C fan/gas mark 4. Spread the walnuts over a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or until fragrant and lightly coloured. Set aside to cool, then crush or roughly chop.

Place the cherries, onion, coriander, chilli and walnuts in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil and salt, to taste, and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

From Very Good Salads (Smith Books, £20). Louisa Allen and Shuki Rosenboim are co-owners of Very Good Falafel, Melbourne

Fuchsia Dunlop

Years ago, a friend took me to visit a rural Sichuanese restaurant called Zou’s Strange Flavours, which specialised in eccentric and archaic ingredients and dishes. One of his specialities was roasting whole ducks, peppers and aubergines in the embers of his old-fashioned cooking range. The aubergines, their blackened skins rinsed away, were dressed in spicy Sichuanese seasonings and served as an appetiser. The following recipe is inspired by Mr Zou and also by Lebanese salad made with smoky grilled aubergines, baba ganoush. I’ve replaced the Levantine ingredients – tahini, lemon juice and olive oil – with a scrumptious combination of Chinese toasted sesame paste, rice vinegar and chilli oil. Serve it at the start of a Chinese meal or alongside Middle Eastern or European cold cuts and salads.

Serves 2-4 as a side dishaubergines 2 (about 600g)sesame seeds 1 tsp Chinese sesame paste 1 tbsp salt pinch white sugar ¼ tsp light soy sauce ½ tsp Chinkiang vinegar 1 tspchilli oil, with or without sediment 1½ tbspgarlic ½ tsp, crushedspring onion greens 1 tsp, finely sliced

Prick the aubergines in a few places with a fork, and then lay them, whole, on a slow barbecue or a low gas flame on the hob. Leave them for 30-45 minutes, turning from time to time, until the skin is burnt and the flesh completely tender. Remove from the heat.

When the aubergines are cool enough to handle, peel off their burnt skins, rinsing off any fragments under the tap. Remove the stems and discard; squeeze gently to allow any excess liquid to drain away. Then tear the aubergines into strips or coarsely chop and place in a serving dish.

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over a very low heat until turning golden; set aside.

Place the sesame paste in a small bowl with the salt, sugar and soy sauce. Mash and mix with a spoon until smooth. Then blend in the vinegar, followed by the chilli oil and crushed garlic. You should end up with a sauce with the consistency of single cream (add a few drops of water if it seems too dry). Pour the sauce over the aubergines. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and spring onions.

Fuchsia Dunlop is a food writer. Her new book, Invitation to a Banquet, is out next month (Penguin, £25)

Joe Trivelli

This colourful salad is redolent of summer. It’s substantial enough for a meal all by itself, or could form part of a bigger spread. Conveniently, these mussels improve when left to marinate for a day, so I make this ahead and then finish at the last moment. If you avoid bread, boiled new potatoes or rice are good substitutes.

Serves 2-4mussels 1.2kg dried red chilli ½ garlic ½ clovethyme leaves 2 sprigs sweet paprika ½ tsp sherry vinegar 3 tbsp olive oil 6 tbsp, plus a little for the breadtomatoes, a mix of cherry and plum 500g good bread 4 thick slices capers 2 tsp basil 1 small bunch

Clean, de-beard and wash the mussels. Place a large saucepan over a high heat. Add the washed mussels with a splash of water. Cover with a lid and shake the pan over the heat. Cook for 5 minutes or until all the mussels are open, shaking from time to time. Once all the shells are open, transfer to a big bowl. Shuck all the meat from the shells, reserving the mussel liquor.

Crush the chilli with a small pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle. Add the garlic and then thyme leaves, crushing both well. Then mix in the paprika, vinegar, mussel liquor, olive oil and stir. Cover the mussels with this. Cut larger tomatoes into strips and smaller simply in half. Lightly salt and add to the mussels. Cover, and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

When you are ready to eat, heat the grill. Tear the bread into long pieces and drizzle with a little oil. Grill for 4 minutes, turning over halfway through, until golden and crispy. Add the capers, toss everything together and serve right away with basil leaves scattered over.

Joe Trivelli is co-executive chef of the River Cafe, London

Sarit Packer

A recipe inspired by the tuna salads of North Africa – which swap mayonnaise for fiery harissa and preserved lemons – we love to eat this salad stuffed inside fricassee bread, as we were taught by our Tunisian friends.

Adding potatoes and perfectly boiled eggs transforms this salad into a meal, ideally served on a hot day when you just want something tasty and easy. The key is using the best tinned tuna you can get your hands on.

Serves 4 as a light salad mealtuna in olive oil 2 tins, 250g (drained weight)olive oil from the tuna tin (or 3tbsp olive oil if not using tuna in olive oil)harissa 20g spring onions 3, or a small bunch of chives, finely choppedeggs 4 waxy boiling potatoes or large salad potatoes 600g, cut into thick slices, skins onpreserved lemon skins 30g, roughly chopped (from 2-3 lemons, depending on their size)capers 30g (if using salty ones, soak them for 10 minutes in water, then strain, or use pickled as is)parsley 1 small bunch, roughly choppedsalt and freshly ground black pepper

Strain the tuna, retaining the olive oil for later. Mix the tuna with the harissa and the spring onions or chives.

Add 2 litres of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a pot, bring to a boil and add the eggs. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes. Then, using a spoon, remove the eggs to a bowl with ice-cold water, to stop the cooking.

Drop the potato slices into your still-boiling pot of water and boil for about 8-10 minutes, until just soft (test with the tip of a knife).

As the potatoes are boiling, take 3-4 tablespoons of the olive oil retained from the tuna tin (or 3 tablespoons of olive oil if you used tuna without olive oil), add to a bowl with the preserved lemon skins (discarding the flesh, as this is too salty and bitter to eat), parsley and capers, and mix well.

As soon as the potatoes are ready, strain and transfer them to the bowl containing the oil, mix and season, set aside for 5 minutes, then mix again so all the flavours infuse.

Peel your eggs carefully and cut them in half. To plate, pPlace the potato salad on a large platter, top with the tuna and eggs, and serve at room temperature. This salad doesn’t love a fridge and is best eaten warm or at room temperature.

Sarit Packer is cofounder of Honey & Co, London