Salad, tart and ice-cream: herb recipes by Mark Diacono

Herbs take centre stage in a summery lemon thyme and leek tart, a Roman-style herb and anchovy salad, an oriental spicy noodle salad and a distinctly grown-up tarragon and olive oil ice-cream to finish

Most writers I know get by on egg on toast or leftovers for lunch - when you are on the scribble, it's good not to get out of the zone for long. This is for the other days: a bowl of lively refreshment for when you are flagging. It is so very simple, yet full of flavours rubbing up against each other like passengers on a jammed tube. It has a fair bit of south-east Asia about it, and I like it quite fierce on the chilli.