This Ordinary Life

I find that in today's face paced, overworked society the ranks of M&S dinners and take-away food have led us to believe that the only way to cope with our busy lives it to buy their products. Their mantra is all about working people not having time and deserving better than what they could cobble together at home.

Well, I disagree and over the coming months I will share with you simple dishes that allow you to eat like a king, enjoy cooking, impress your friends and save money. It is the greatest fallacy that cooking for yourself is a hassle, take a lot of time and isn't worth it for one person.

To start things off, I'll share with you a simple recipe for a Goats Cheese Garden Salad. This combines the vegetables you should have in your fridge with the ever more popular goats cheese. The presentation is eye catching and you'll feel like your in a restaurant (with washing up).

First, the ingredients... You will need a base leaf (mixed leaf, rocket or little gem; however, THOU SHALL NOT USE ICEBERG LETTUCE!). Sorry about the stern rebuke, but iceberg lettuce is, in my opinion, an insult to the salad family. There is more flavour in a glass of water.

Next you will need colourful vegetables for contrast. In the salad pictured, I used a yellow pepper, small red onion, 1 carrot, 2 small vine tomatos, 1 avocado and 1/8 of a cucumber. However, mushrooms, sliced apple, broccoli or steamed butternut squash could all be used as well. The secret is contrasting colours with flavours. Slicing allows you artistic licence for the presentation (e.g. carrot star shapes, cucumber slivers and fanned avocados).

Next prepare the goats cheese croutons. These are very simple and look great. Take a piece of bread (best if you toast it first) and smear a healthy quantity of goats cheese on top. Grill until the cheese is bubbling and browning, be careful not to let it burn. Finally, cut the bread into whatever shape you like, I prefer nice squares.

Assembly is easy. Start with a pile of leaves and then in a symmetrical fashion add your chopped vegetable, put the croutons around the outside edge (you don't want any dressing on these) and top with some chopped nuts (I love cashews, walnuts or almonds) or seeds (sunflower, sesame or flax) in the centre for some added crunch and taste.

Finally, add your dressing. This is probably the only stage where you can ruin this salad. Too often a salad ends up just tasting like the dressing (which if you use iceberg lettuce is great). But for this salad, I suggest you use a simple vinaigrette consisting of a dash of olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar with salt and roughly ground pepper to taste.

The finished product is a salad that will impress. It's perfect for lunch or, as a smaller portion, a starter. I also find that after a hard day at work, it's a simple booster that gives me most of the nutrients that I may have missed out on during the day.

Enjoy...