Salad of Lettuce, Goats Cheese, Strawberry & Blueberry
Colourful salad of lettuce with goats cheese, strawberries, blueberries and pomegranate in a lemon-vinegar-basil-chilli dressing. Best if put- together shortly before you are ready to serve.
Servings: 4 serving
Ingredients
- 3 bunches Lettuce assorted
- 1 cup Strawberries
- 1 cup Blueberries
- ½ cup Cherry tomatoes / Roma
- 1 Orange
- ½ Pomegranate
- 3 Olives
- ½ cup Goats cheese (shredded)
- to taste Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper Freshly Ground
- 1 tablespoon Walnuts shelled
For the dressing:
- 1 red chilli Fresh
- ½ tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
- ½ tablespoon Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 2 tbsps Olive oil (preferably extra virgin)
- 1 teaspoon lemon Zest of
- a few Basil leaves -
- pinch Salt - a
- ½ teaspoon Pepper Freshly ground
Instructions
- Use Large leaf lettuce of different varieties such as green and red Romaine, along with Looseleaf varieties such as Lolla Rosa. Add just a few leaves of crisp Iceberg.
- Wrap and store the lettuce in the fridge till ready to use.
- Make the dressing and keep aside till ready to serve, so the flavours settle.
- To make the dressing:
- Pour the vinegar and lemon juice into a bottle or bowl. Add salt and pepper.
- Make a lengthwise slit in the chilli without splitting it. De- seed, remove the white pith if you want to reduce the 'heat' of the chilli.
- Place the whole slit chilli in the vinegar.
- Shred the basil and add.
- Pour the olive oil gradually into the vinegar mix, whisking with a fork if using a bowl. If using a bottle, screw the lid on after adding the oil, and shake the mixture well. Store in the fridge till ready to use.
- To make the salad:
- Chop the strawberries into quarters and the cherry tomato into halves. Pit the olives and slice thin.
- Peel the orange, take the white skin off 4-6 segments, de-seed and slice each into quarters.
- Take out the seeds from half a pomegranate, check that there is no skin clinging to the seeds.
- Chop the walnuts into small pieces.
- Wash the lettuce, dry in a salad spinner or with a clean tea towel and shred the leaves with your fingers.
- Place lettuce in a glass bowl,
- Mix the blueberries, pieces of strawberries, tomato and orange and pomegranate seeds in another bowl. Add salt and pepper. Gently mix with your fingers taking care not to bruise the fruit.
- Add the fruit to the lettuce. Add the pieces of olive.
- Cover tightly with cling wrap and refrigerate till ready to serve.
- Sprinkle goats cheese in small lumps and scatter the walnuts on the salad.
- Pour the dressing all over the salad, just before serving
- Serve with a wooden spoon taking heaps of lettuce along with a portion of the fruit and cheese.
- Goes well as a side dish with pasta, quesadilla or soup, or as a main course by itself with toasted focaccia or other bread.
