Thinking ahead a little (sorry) this recipe is a good one for Christmas entertaining with the green of the cucumber and the red jewel-like seeds of the pomegranate. It will, of course, go down well any time and is especially good for large numbers as it can be made ahead and keeps happily in the fridge overnight. Just a little thought, everyone is busy nowadays, so if you want to save a bit of time: Salt the cucumber, but don't pickle it - not so exciting, but still pretty

This is another of those super easy dips, just throw everything in a food processor and it is ready. The lengthiest part is washing up the bowl and blade of the processor - really. The dip is really delicious served with lovely crunchy veggies, but baked pitta crisps are equally good with it. Also, if you keep the consistency of the dip reasonably thick, a quick canapé would be to spread it directly on to those crunchy ready made crostini available in supermarkets everywhe