This not so much a recipe as an idea. Tomorrow we head back to Turkey (can’t wait to be in my lovely big kitchen – the one here is a little on the ‘bijou’ side, and a lot of my cooking kit still resides in Turkey), so last night’s dinner was a final fridge-raid. (Tonight is fish and chips from the pub, as I’ve now cleaned the oven and the kitchen floor).

I really couldn’t face another version of fridge-raid soup and we had a couple of bags of fresh salad still to eat, plus a little container of chicken strips and a few slices of smoked bacon in the freezer. I cobbled the whole lot together and made a mustardy dressing, which I mixed in the pan in which I had fried the bacon and chicken – which made it warm and super delicious. We ate the salad with the last of a bag of new potatoes (local earlies) and some garlic bread. You can use whatever leftovers you like, and feel free to add some toasted walnuts, pine nuts or seeds (I forgot to do so). Here’s how I rolled:

• Halve some small tomatoes and put them on a baking tray that you have lined with baking paper and roast in a 180 degree oven until slightly scorched and starting to fall apart (about half an hour). If you are adding garlic bread, put this into the oven towards the end of baking (saves on electricity and means your tomatoes will be warm).

• Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry a few rashers of bacon until really crisp. Set the bacon aside to cool, the break into shards. Add some strips of chicken (breast or thigh is fine) to the pan – or other protein of your choice (thin strips of beef, a little chorizo or some prawns immediately spring to mind), along with a finely chopped clove of garlic and a generous sprinkling of chilli flakes and oregano. Cook until the chicken is a deep golden brown and starting to crisp. Set the chicken aside with the bacon, leaving any cooking juices in the pan.

• Meanwhile, arrange some salad leaves in a serving bowl and top with whatever you have going – I used spring onions (red onion would be fine), avocado and thinly-sliced fennel. Scatter the bacon, chicken and roasted tomatoes over the salad and top with any bits of cheese that you happen to have to hand – I used some feta, but any blue cheese, goat’s cheese or other soft cheese would be fine.

• To make the dressing, deglaze the pan with a little white wine/apple vinegar or balsamic vinegar, then whisk in a heaped teaspoon of Dijon mustard. If using white wine or apple vinegar, add a teaspoon of brown sugar or a little drizzle of honey. Season generously and whisk in a little olive oil (about two tablespoons) until you have a cohesive glossy dressing. Drizzle all over the salad and sprinkle over some chopped parsley. Serve with the garlic bread, or other crusty bread for dunking into the dressing, and some new potatoes on the side.