I adore summertime eating. It is the time of perpetual salads – vegetables, fruits and cheese. My favourite comprises of wedges of juicy watermelon and slivers of salty parmesan. Nothing else is required, the fresh ingredients shouting loudly for themselves.

Though the summer months seem to have passed I am reluctant to leave behind this style of healthy eating, so delving through my fridge derived at making a Super Salad for lunch today. Super because I enjoy these particular ingredients and super according to Ian Marber aka The Food Doctor.

Not a long list of components but foods which *energize and fulfill:

• Chickpeas – rich in folic acid and dietary fibre, plus the minerals manganese and copper. Folic acid is discussed regularly in the media in relation to the developing, unborn child but we mustn’t forget its daily importance also; a member of the B vitamin group and vital to healthy cell formation.

• Cucumber – An excellent source of Vitamin C and potassium. Vitamin C is probably the most well known of vitamins and essential for all round health and its positive role in our immune system, whilst potassium is stored in the liver and muscles to regulate normal bodily functions.

• Flat Leaf (Italian) Parsley – Whilst we don’t normally eat parsley in sufficiently large quantities, it offers all round vitamins and a trace of Iron which is carried in the oxygen providing red blood cells.

• Sprinkling of Olive Oil Vinaigrette – Full of Vitamin E and Omega-6, helping reduce cholesterol damage.

Take a handful of cooked chickpeas and combine with a chunk of chopped cucumber and a good handful of parsley which has been chopped finely. Drizzle over a little vinaigrette, serve and enjoy. But, remember the key to healthy eating is all about reasonable, proper portion sizes.