One of my favourite things to eat this summer is a combination of spicy, grilled meat of some description, coupled with a hearty, bolstering salad of grains or pulses enriched and brightened with the best of the summer’s fruits, plus a dollop of cooling cucumber yoghurt alongside – I love the contrast in both texture and temperature between hot, sizzling meat, warm pulses and thick, cold yoghurt made extra refreshing with grated cucumber and fresh mint. Peaches are a particular favourite for salads, partly because they are so sweet and delicious alongside savoury ingredients, and partly because you can griddle them to produce gorgeous chargrilled red-orange segments that will brighten up whatever you want to throw them in.

This is one of the best summer platefuls I can envisage. Meaty chicken thighs are marinated in a spicy yoghurt paste, made fiery with harissa, habanero chilli flakes and smoked paprika and zingy with lemon salt and crushed garlic. Throw them on a barbecue and they crisp up lusciously, filling your garden with the scent of meat and spice. To accompany this, a fruity bulgur wheat salad, given savoury depth with spring onions and lemon, but brightened with loads of fresh herbs (I grow a variety of mint called grapefruit mint in my garden, which smells and tastes just how it sounds and is perfect for this), and tossed through with griddled peaches, succulent and sweet.

To top it all off, a thick dollop of cooling cucumber yoghurt, flecked with mint and deliciously cold and crunchy alongside the nutty, fruity bulgur and the crispy, spicy chicken. You could actually enjoy this without the chicken, if you’re a vegetarian or, better still, marinate some paneer or halloumi in the harissa yoghurt and serve that instead. The real star is the peach salad, combined with the cucumber yoghurt, although it’s hard to argue with the sight of spicy barbecued chicken smoking seductively from the grill and wafting aromas around your garden that appeal to all those primal caveman urges. This is how summer eating should be, all the time. Fingers crossed for sunny evenings.

Barbecued harissa chicken with griddled peach bulgur wheat & cucumber yoghurt (serves 3-4):

For the chicken:

8 boneless chicken thighs, skin-on
1 tbsp rose harissa paste
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp lemon salt
Pinch of habanero chilli flakes
300ml plain yoghurt
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 tbsp rapeseed oil

For the bulgur wheat:

200g bulgur wheat
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
½ tsp lemon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp olive oil
4 peaches, sliced

For the yoghurt:

1 cucumber
1 tsp salt
300ml thick yoghurt (I use Greek)
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

First, marinate the chicken. Stab the thighs all over with a sharp knife to make small incisions. Mix together all the ingredients except the chicken in a shallow dish, then add the chicken thighs and coat thoroughly. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge, preferably overnight but for a few hours is fine.

When ready to cook, get a barbecue or grill ready, and cook the thighs for about 15-20 minutes on each side, or until the skin is crispy and the juices run clear. Meanwhile, grate the cucumber and put in a sieve. Toss with the salt and leave over a bowl for about 15 minutes, then squeeze out as much remaining water as you can. Put the bulgur in a large bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover by about an inch. Put a plate over the bowl and leave for 15 minutes or so, then drain. Add the lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper, the spring onions, herbs and olive oil and toss well. Get a griddle pan hot, then brush lightly with a little olive oil. Griddle the peach segments on each side until tender and slightly charred, then toss through the bulgur.

Mix the drained cucumber with the yoghurt, mint and some seasoning. Serve the chicken with the bulgur and a generous dollop of yoghurt alongside.