Two late summer salads

Picnic opportunities are fast running out, but I am planning to squeeze in one or two more. This weekend I enjoyed two easy dishes which celebrate vegetables, using strong flavourings to add punch to main ingredients which might seem rather pedestrian - cucumber and carrots. The winner to my mind was spiced carrots teamed with feta cheese, the spices helping to bring out the sweetness which was balanced by the salty feta. But I will certainly be making the garlicky smashed cucumber again too.

Personally, if I had these two dishes on a picnic I wouldn't need much else, though I might be tempted by the idea of some fresh bread and some home-made hummus. But it rather depends how lavish your idea of a picnic is. And if you're not picnicking, never fear - either or both of these will work well indoors, perhaps as a light lunch or side dish.

Smashed cucumber with garlic

This dish was inspired by a Sichuan recipe from Fuschia Dunlop in the Guardian. I have adapted it to the ingredients I had, and also left out the oil as I was aiming for a fat-free dish. Personally, I didn't miss the oil, but I'm certainly not going to claim it's authentic.

Smashing the cucumber breaks the flesh up so it can absorb the flavours, and can also be quite a therapeutic exercise. Fuschia salts the cucumber flesh and leaves it to drain for ten minutes, but in the interests of time-saving, and because soy sauce is very salty, I skipped this stage - but feel free to add it back in if you want.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as a substantial side dish

1 cucumber
2 fat cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Good pinch chilli powder or chilli flakes
1 dsp soy sauce

Place the cucumber on a chopping board and hit it hard with a rolling pin a few times. Cut it lengthways into four, and then into thick slices.

Mix together all the ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings if you wish. Serve immediately.

Middle Eastern carrot and feta salad

This recipe is adapted slightly from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as a substantial side dish

1 lb / 450g carrots
1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed in a pestle and mortar
Pinch each of ground coriander and cinnamon
2tsp honey
Juice of half a lemon
100g feta cheese
2 tbsp coriander leaves

Peel or scrub and slice the carrots fairly thickly. Boil until tender. Drain and allow to cool at least slightly. (You can eat this dish warm or at room temperature.)

Mix together the honey, lemon and spices, and then combine with the carrots. Crumble the feta cheese or chop it into small pieces and add those to the carrots. Chop the coriander leaves slightly and scatter them over.