Imagine celery with a swagger and you’re pretty close to lovage. With darker leaves than its watery cousin, lovage has the most fantastic flavour that, while not immediately appealing, grows on you.

I served this with a pork chop.

Serves 2
A handful of trimmed green beans
A head of chicory
A few leaves of romaine or gem lettuce
A handful of lovage, roughly torn
A teaspoon Dijon mustard
A tablespoon of cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A tablespoon of buttermilk
Salt and pepper

– Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and add the trimmed beans. Simmer for two minutes, drain, and run under a cold tap for a minute to prevent further cooking.

– Tear the leaves into bitesized pieces – a vital and much overlooked aspect of salad preparation – and wash and dry thoroughly.

– Whisk the vinegar into the mustard before slowly whisking in the olive oil to emulsify, followed by the buttermilk. Season with salt and pepper, dress the salad and serve. With a pork chop. And potatoes.

With thanks to Wildly Different for their green beans suggestion, and everyone else who helped in this week’s Random Ingredient Generator game. Except Julia.