You can adjust the spiciness to your liking. It is colourful, easy to make and you can prepare it ahead of time. Above all, it makes a delicious accompaniment to any meal, vegetarian, vegan or meat and can simply be eaten on its own or as a starter. I normally go for small salad potatoes because there are faster to prepare, no need to peel them and when it comes to dicing: just cut them in half.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 550g / 1¼ lb potatoes scrubbed but skins left on.
• 1 chilli or 2 if you like it hotter, finely chopped
• 25g/ 1oz of fresh coriander, tough stalks discarded, the rest washed, pat dried and chopped.

For the dressing

• 4 fat cloves of garlic peeled
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon  juice

• Seasoning: salt & freshly milled black pepper

Method

1. If using small salad potatoes, get the best flavour by steaming them. To do that, pour boiling water into a saucepan fitted with a steamer, tip the potatoes into the steamer with one or two sprigs of mint. Cover, and using a medium setting let them steam for 25 minutes or until cooked. You can test them by inserting a skewer in the centre which should feel soft. Discard the mint, then transfer potatoes into a suitable sized-bowl and cover with a clean cloth so it absorbs excess steam, and helps the potatoes to keep a nice texture without getting mushy. This should take roughly 4 minutes, then cut them into halves.
2. If using big potatoes, rinse them under the tap, then put in a saucepan and cover with water, add 1tsp of salt and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to a medium setting, cover and let them simmer, for nearly 25 minutes or until when inserting a skewer, they feel tender. Drain the potatoes and let them cool down before peeling off the skin. Cut them into bite sized chunky pieces.
3. You can prepare the dressing while the potatoes are cooking. Sprinkle some salt onto the peeled garlic and smash into a smooth paste. Add 3 tbsp olive oil, season with freshly milled black pepper and mix thoroughly.
4. When you are ready to serve, heat up the remaining olive oil in a suitable sized saucepan and throw in the chopped chillies, stir fry for 30 seconds then add the prepared potatoes, followed by the garlic-olive oil mixture. Toss the potatoes around so they absorb the flavour of the ingredients and are re-heated. Stir in the chopped coriander, give the whole thing a good stir, add lemon juice and toss briefly. Take it off the heat, taste and adjust if necessary.

Transfer to a salad bowl and serve at once. However, it is also delicious served at room temperature or even cold.