Roasted vegetable and grilled goats cheese salad

The pinnacle of food flavouring for me is that burst of intense sweetness married with something deep and salty. For example feta and sweet roasted red peppers, Parma ham and sweet melon or even chocolate and peanut butter! The difference in flavour makes your mouth explode.

That’s why I love this little recipe. You will find various versions of this on many a café and restaurant menu. It’s a classic and rightly so. You can add whatever vegetables you like, but I would say red onion, red pepper and cherry tomatoes are a must. Aubergines would be good here, but this time I used mushrooms instead.

Serves 2

Two round slices of goats cheese (the firmer ones like Chevre, which I used, are best)

One red pepper

One courgette

One large or two small red onions

Few mushrooms

6/8 cherry tomatoes on the vine

Handful of herbs (I used oregano, thyme and rosemary)

Two garlic cloves, whole

Two to three handfuls of salad leaves (rocket/watercress and spinach work well)

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to make a dressing

A simple, tasty evening meal or lunch

Chop all your vegetables into large chunks (accept tomatoes), place in a roasting dish with some olive oil, salt, pepper, the garlic cloves and herbs. Mix up and put in a 200 degree oven for about 20 minutes until softened and charred round the edges. Place the tomatoes on top and return to the oven for five more minutes.

Once the cherry tomatoes have gone in, place you cheeses under the grill with a drizzle of oil to brown on the top, but not melt.

Divide the salad between two plates, top with the roasted vegetables and then the goats cheese. Mix the dressing ingredients and drizzle around the outside, over the salad leaves. Add crusty bread or croûtons to make this meal more filling.

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