Roger Phillips, creator of Wild Flowers and its bestselling companion Mushrooms, turns his attention and his camera to the wide range of good things to eat from the countryside and seashore.

From the multitude of species that are safely edible, he has selected those that are actually attractive and appetizing as food. Beautiful colour photography shows each species growing in the wild – for accurate identification – and prepared as an appealing dish.

Well-known wine and food writers such as Jane Grigson, Katie Stewart and B.C.A. Turner are among those who have contributed the recipes that accompany Roger Phillips’ photographs.

One of our readers sent us this simple melon fruit salad recipe and for two people it only came to a cost of £1.26

Full Melon £1.00 (Aldi),   One Plum 10 pence (Aldi),   Five Grapes Four pence (Aldi),  Quarter Granny Smith Apple five pence (Aldi),  Kiwi fruit five pence (Aldi),  Apple Juice from Carton Two pence.

But always remember the presentation…… Priceless!

The melon is prepared by cutting around the diameter, pointing the knife at a slight angle, in toward the centre of the melon.  Work your way around the fruit creating a zig zag pattern, to meet up with where you started.

A simple twist will be all that is needed to separate the two halves, then you just need to scoop out the seeds from the centres.

Prepare the other fruits (you can use anything you like) and place in a bowl with the apple (or other fruit) juice.  Leave to stand until the dish is ready to be served, then spoon the fruit salad into the centre of the melon halves.

presentation is the key

This simple melon fruit salad is ideal as a starter or even a snack and certainly puts you well on your way to five a day.