Courgette Salad with preserved lemon

This is a light, end of summer salad, good enough for lunch or as a side dish, to use up the last of the courgettes in the garden if you have them, or to improve supermarket ones with a lemony dressing.

for 4 portions

Dressing:

1 small preserved lemon

1/2 red onion finely sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbs maple syrup

4 tbs olive oil

Scrape the flesh from the preserved lemon. discard it and chop the rind finely. Mix with the onion, lemon juice, oil, syrup and seasoning. You will porbabaly have more than you eed for this but it keeps and is versatile.

Salad:

2 small courgettes

1 lettuce, little gem for preference

Frozen peas, a handful or more as you wish, covered with hot water for a few minutes and then drained

Herbs - chives finely chopped, parsley chopped

1. Use a potato peeler to shave the courgettes into long ribbons. Cut the lettuce into wedges or separate out the leaves. 
2. Combine the salad ingredients, toss gently in some of the dressing and serve in a shallow bowl.

You can add other things to bulk this out, nuts for example or beans, green or tinned butter beans. But I like this as it is, especially with some smoked trout or hardboiled eggs alongside, and good bread.