A salad of baby new potato, runner bean and tomato - all from leftovers

Lunch today was a hodge-podge of leftovers in the refrigerator. Luckily, leftovers can be better than first-timers. I filled my salad with some of the best seasonal vegetables (runner beans from the garden... tomatoes from Norfolk... potatoes from Jersey) and complimented them with some protein to last me through the long afternoon. It was a niçoise of sorts:

Baby new potato, runner bean and tomato salad

(serves 1)

180 g baby new potatoes, steamed, halved and cooled

100 g runner beans, sliced diagonally

2 medium ripe tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

2 slices of cooked ham, sliced

50 g little gem lettuce, rinsed and chopped roughly

Pepper, to taste

A dollop (about 10 g) of light mayonnaise

A splash of balsamic vinegar

Combine the first six ingredients in a bowl. Spoon a dollop of mayonnaise on the side. If serving immediately, add a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Calories: 291

I made this dish the night before, since I had extra new potatoes after cooking salmon fishcakes. It keeps well in a plastic container overnight and transports easily to work.

I have begun keeping a bottle of vinegar at work to splash on my salad right before eating. This helps keep the lettuce fresh. Aspall's Organic Balsamic Vinegar is on my shelf (you can get it at Tesco), but white wine vinegar and red wine vinegar work nicely too. I prefer not to use cider vinegar in salads, though others think it makes a good salad dressing. Try them all and decide for yourself.

a lunch of leftovers

Lunchtime yesterday was great - roasted chicken breast with tabbouleh. Why such a fancy lunch, some might ask, used to me flogging my spinach and butter bean salad every day?

Well, actually, this 'fancy' lunch was actually as easy as it gets, because it was entirely from leftovers - roasted chicken from Sunday lunch and then leftover tabbouleh from dinner the night before (which I didn't mention on the blog, but it was grilled mackerel with cumin and lemon served with tabbouleh and green beans, one of my favourites).

Making lunch that morning was certainly easy enough -combining the contents of two Tupperware dishes from the refrigerator into one and dropping it in my lunch bag with a couple pieces of fruit.

A few weeks ago, while on a training course, I headed into Pret a Manger for lunch and picked up one of their salads - Chicken Tabbouleh and Yogurt Dressing Salad, which the company's website describes as "chicken breast in a light yoghurt dressing, tabbouleh (Israeli cous cous, broad beans, chick peas, red peppers, flat leaf parsley), red peppers....finished with French dressing." I have to admit, it was quite nice, especially for a store-bought salad, and I didn't even need the French dressing. The salad, minus the dressing, was 189 calories, say Pret. But it was also expensive, setting me back £4, which is a lot for a takeaway, especially one that's not particularly big.

The brilliance of leftovers is that they're so easy to make, and if you plan ahead, you can "build in" leftovers to your cooking. When I was making the tabbouleh the night before, I knew that a 50g serving per person of bulgar wheat was plenty, but I threw in an extra serving; this way, if my husband wanted a bit more, he could have it, and if he didn't, I knew exactly where it would be going - my lunch box the next morning.

Tabbouleh is extremely tasty on its own for a lunchtime salad as well, and creative cooks - tabbouleh purists may consider them heretics - can add feta cheese or olives too. I like it with feta cheese sometimes, but actually, it's not necessary.

Tabbouleh

(serves 2)

100 g bulgar wheat

3 medium size ripe tomatoes, chopped and deseeded

150 g cucumber, diced and deseeded

A small handful of mint, chopped

A package of parsley, chopped

Juice of 1 large lemon

Salt and pepper

Cumin, to taste

Prepare the bulgar wheat as per the instructions, allowing it to cool. In a separate bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cumin. Mix together.

Add the bulgar wheat (when cooled), mint and parsley, mixing to distribute evenly.

Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. The mixture should be very parsley-heavy.

Serve immediately, or for added flavour, allow the juices to soak into the bulgar wheat for a few hours in the refrigerator. Either way, it's great.

One serving: around 200 calories.

I am actually already thinking about the next time I will make tabbouleh. But for now, since it's my lunch break, it's back to my old friend the spinach and butter bean salad...