This week I have two delicious summer salads using cooked fish, and both are also very colourful. We all eat with our eyes, but children are often so much more visual than adults and can decide if they are going to like something at one glance. I think this Hawaiian tuna poke bowl is a real winner. This is a traditional Hawaiian recipe and it just shows how much we are used to recipes from all over the world these days.

It is quick to make and great for a lunchbox or a picnic. I use a can of tuna instead of fresh, but the flavours really work. Shine’s tuna is a favourite of mine. Based in Killybegs, Co Donegal, John and Marianne Shine spotted a gap in the market some years back, and now have a very successful business sourcing wild albacore tuna. Nori seaweed is widely available now too, as are the lovely green edamame broad beans.

You can eat the rainbow again with my second recipe, a healthy salmon and pesto salad. You might like to buy a spiralizer, which can be bought online quite cheaply, or you can use a vegetable peeler/julienne grater. Something I would recommend is a Japanese mandolin, which is very useful to get a uniform thickness. Do be careful.

Make sure that all of your vegetables are spanking fresh for the fab flavours. A farmers’ market would be a great place to do the shop. I love the sweetness and the texture of honey roasted cashew nuts. I like this parsley pesto, but some foragers tell me that they have used wild garlic.

Ingredients: Serves 2

250g (9oz) cooked brown rice

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

½ tsp caster sugar

Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

1 ripe avocado

¼ cucumber

1 sheet of nori seaweed

200g tuna in olive oil, drained

75g frozen edamame beans, thawed

Handful of fresh coriander leaves

Method

1. If using a pouch of rice, cook it in the microwave according to the packet instructions. Leave to cool a little. Fluff up the rice into separate grains and divide between two bowls.

2. To make the dressing, pour the soy sauce into a small bowl and add the rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and chilli flakes (if using). Whisk or stir to combine.

3. Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone, then peel and slice the flesh. Cut the cucumber into quarters and remove the seeds, then cut into matchsticks. Finely shred the nori seaweed.

4. Arrange the tuna, avocado, cucumber and edamame beans in small piles on the rice and drizzle over the dressing. Scatter over the coriander leaves and nori seaweed to serve.

Ingredients: Serves 2

10g fresh flat-leaf parsley

6 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 lemon

2 large carrots

1 beetroot

1 large courgette

Large jug of iced water

200g cooked salmon fillet (shop-bought or leftover)

50g honey-roasted cashew nuts, roughly chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. To make the parsley pesto, pick the leaves from the parsley and place in a blender with the oil. Grate in the zest of half the lemon and season lightly, then blitz briefly to a coarse purée. Cut the lemon into cheeks and reserve for garnish.

2. Peel the carrots and beetroot, then using a spiraliser, cut the carrots into long, thin spirals. Repeat with the beetroot and courgette. Put each one into a separate bowl of iced water, as this will help the vegetables to crisp up nicely.

3. Drain the vegetables well and quickly pat dry on kitchen paper. Divide between bowls and flake the cooked salmon on top, discarding any skin and stray bones. Drizzle over the parsley pesto. Scatter the honey-roasted cashews and lemon on top.