This is one of the few recipes that I’ve created which has been made many, many times before being posted on here. Normally recipes are created, tested once or twice, then BANG, they’re up there in the top spot. However this one drifted out of my head in early January, when we were staying at our friend Jeff’s flat, having foolishly employed some builders to tear down the ceilings and replaster the walls in BOTH of our bedrooms at the same time. I never, ever could have guessed how disruptive that would be, or how much work it would be for me, keeping those bastards in check.
Anyway, back to the food. The recipe was a hit straight away, and has proved quite versatile. We made it for lunch the following weekend, and the one after, and the one after. I must have had it at least ten times now, with a few different ingredients such as bacon and camembert. It really screams winter, but in the way a soul singer might scream; powerful, rich, delicately balanced and massively enjoyable, as opposed to Take That fans screaming, which I imagine would be painful, distressing and slightly scary.
So when I saw a competition on Yotam Ottolenghi’s Twitter feed asking for Instagram posts showing vegetables using the hashtag #PlentyMoreVeg, this Kale and goat’s cheese salad with cranberry dressing recipe immediately came to mind, so I jumped on my computer to post it, and here it is, ready for your delectation.
Kale, goat’s cheese and pear salad with ‘Jeff’s Flat’ dressing
By Gavin Wren
Serves 2 as a main course
PDF recipe card to download or print
Ingredients
200g French beans
250g Kale, shredded
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 Pear, cored and chopped into 1cm chunks.
50g Pecans, roughly chopped.
100g Soft goat’s cheese
150g Frozen cranberries
1 tablespoon date syrup
1.5 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
Chop the beans into 1″ pieces and place on a baking tray, season and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil then place on the middle shelf of the oven for 5 minutes. Put the kale in another baking tray and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then place in top shelf of the oven when the first 5 minutes are up. Leave both trays in the oven for a further 30 minutes.
Place the cranberries in a small saucepan over a low heat. Add the date syrup, mustard and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir occasionally until bubbling, then crush the cranberries with the back of a spoon until all broken up. Stir vigorously a few times and remove from the heat.
The beans and kale should both be browned slightly crispy when they are ready. Divide them between two plates, then scatter the pear chunks and pecans over the top. Dollop the dressing all over the place then break the goat’s cheese into chunks on top.