Hi Maki, I bought a really delicious salad dressing here in Japan, called "goma dressing," and I wonder if you know how to make it. It's light brown in color from the ground roasted sesame seeds. My children only eat salad if it has this sesame dressing on it! Thank you so much for your help.

Has anyone in the UK (or elsewhere, for that matter) been watching the new series of Celebrity Masterchef? As usual, most of the 'celebrities' are people I have never heard of, but it's been good viewing so far until tonight.

My friend Stacey's recipe.

Hi Maki, I've been to a japanese restaurant and I asked a bento bok for lunch. It had (among lots of other things) a simple green salad with a dressing that was to die for. I had it on some other restaurants so I guess this is a common recipe... The sauce was rather... "solid" i guess it has grated ginger... I'd love to dress my salads with it. Can you help me maki? :D Thanks!! :D

Now that spring is coming I'm thinking about some warm weather friendy recipes that my mother usually makes. And this is what i remembered: Chickpeas salad (4-5 servings) - 1 flask of pre-cooked chickpeas (these are sold in spain, i guess the total wheight of the boiled chickpeas is about 300 gr). - a bag or a can of green olives (better to use the 'manzanilla' variety, even better if they are sold without the stone) (like 100 gr). Do not use black olives, their taste won't go well with the salad! - 1 medium size tomato - 1 boiled egg (optional)

If you like lentils this is a very good salad for a bento: 1 cup lentilles du Puy (French green lentils) picked over and rinsed 6 cups water 1 onion, chopped (not too fine; you will discard it) 3 bacon slices, chopped (this can be omitted for a vegetarian version) 1 garlic clove, halved 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 cup fresh parsely leaves, chopped fine. Save the stems for cooking the lentils 2 carrots, diced fine (about 3/4 cup) For vinaigrette 2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, or to taste (I do this to taste - that's a lot of Dijon!)

This is a variation of a recipe found on Chocolate and Zucchini. Citrus Carrot Salad 1lb shredded carrots (you can buy pre-shredded at the store) 2 oranges 1 lemon 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds Dump the carrots into a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl, squeeze the oranges and lemon to get the juice. Add the brown sugar and mix well. Pour the juice over the carrots and toss well to coat. Add the raisins and sunflower seeds and toss again. This is even better if you let the flavors meld overnight.