A lovely autumn salad, making the most of blackberries (free fruit!) when you don’t want to start eating heavy food, but want something more substantial as the nights start drawing in. This works brilliantly as a  vegan meal if you can get hold of vegan blue cheese – I use La Fauxmagerie’s Brixton Blue.

The salad:

90 g rocket leaves

Large jar of (queen) butter beans (I use Bold Bean Co), drained and rinsed

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

120g gorgonzola, sliced 

3 tbsp olive oil

50g crispy fried onions

Vinaigrette:

150g blackberries

1 to 1 ½  tbsp caster sugar (depending on how sweet the blackberries are)

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp raspberry vinegar

½ teasp sea salt

1 bay leaf

• To make the vinaigrette, put all of the ingredients except the blackberries  in a large jar, and shake well. Add the blackberries and ensure that they are all covered. Allow to steep for at least 2 hours – preferably overnight.

• To assemble the salad, either arrange on one large platter, or divide between 3-4 plates (according to your appetite). First strew over the rocket, followed by the beans and chopped parsley. Top with the cheese. Drizzle over the vinaigrette (removing the bay leaf first), spooning over the whole blackberries, then drizzle over the oil olive. Finally sprinkle over the fried onions.