Quickle

Angus takes credit for the title.

Only cucumbers is traditional, but I like the extra crunch from the carrots and radishes and some heat from the chillies. I thought mine were mild, although they actually turned out to pack a punch, hence Nellie owes me £10 for eating her leftover ones all at once.

I used around 500g of prepared veg, so that’s an approximate guide, if you want to ring the changes with different ingredients. Much quicker to make, than to type the recipe up.

• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup – sugar or honey are fine substitutes
• Pinch of salt

• 1 cucumber – or even better, 3 or 4 ridged pickling cucumbers, which are tastier. Perhaps you grow them, or have a Polish store nearby which stocks them
• 5 small carrots
• A few radishes
• 2 chillies
• A generous handful of dill, chopped coarsely – saving a few pretty fronds for artful sprinkling over

Mix the first three ingredients till the salt melts. Peel the cucumber in stripes; halve it lengthwise; scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon; and slice each half into 5mm new moon shapes. I don’t think you need go through the palaver of salting and draining the excess liquid from the cukes if you scoop out the seeds.

Peel the carrots and cut diagonally into similar sized pieces to the cucumber. Halve the radishes. Slice thinly the chillies, with the seeds and ribs if they are wimpy ones; discard the innards otherwise. Add the chopped veggies and dill to the dressing, mixing together gently. Leave for 20 minutes or so in the fridge, to let the flavours to meld and as it is more refreshing chilled.