It’s Oils Month at Melrose and Morgan and to celebrate we’ve devised a few summery salad dressing ideas using our new stable of unrefined oils. Look out for take-home recipe cards and tastings of the dressings in store over the coming weeks:

A Very British Dressing

Try an adaptation to the French classic; olive oil, white wine vinegar, French mustard and garlic, by substituting four parts Chiltern Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil (£5.21 /500ml) one part lemon juice and, a dab each of Tewkesbury English Mustard (£3.50 /jar) and London Honey (£6.95 /jar). Makes a lively dressing for lentils and bitter leaves to accompany cold meats and cheeses.

Zingy and Versatile

Sometimes you need a mild neutral oil to carry another more intensely flavoured one. Try four parts Clearspring Organic Sunflower Oil (£4.95 /500ml) to one part Clearspring Organic Toasted Sesame Oil (£5.50 /250ml) with freshly squeezed orange juice and zest, crushed garlic and a little brown sugar. Very good in a salad of julienned carrots and Chegworth Valley cucumbers (£1.75 /each), served with BBQ’d pork. Works very well as a marinade for the pork too.

The King of Salad Oils

Try your hand at a classic dressing with the king of salad oils; hazelnut – three parts Hurstwood Farm Hazelnut Oil (12.95 /250ml), one part Burrow Hill Cider Vinegar (£3.50 /50cl), diced shallot, London Honey (£6.95 /jar) and a little garlic. Very good with summer leaves to accompany simply grilled rabbit or chicken.

Nutty and Sweet

To get the real health benefits of argan oil you need to use it cold, so it’s perfect for dressings – try the simple yet heady combination of two parts Arganic Argan Oil (£16.95 /100ml) and one part Arabica Pomegranate Molasses to dress Chegworth Valley Rocket (£2.95 /100g), a few walnuts, medjool dates and cubes of salty Crottin de Chavingnol from Mons (£4.75 /each).

The Taste of Summer

Sometimes it’s best not to mess with something that works. Mix three parts Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil £11.95 /1lt) and one part Acetaia Bellei Balsamic Vinegar (£4.75 /250ml), a pinch of flaky Cornish Sea Salt (£2.50 /125g) and a good grinding of black pepper. Excellent drizzled over torn Neal’s Yard Dairy Alburna Mozzarella (£6.25 /each) and chunky slices of Isle of Wight tomatoes from the Tomato Stall (£2.95 /punnet).