Warm Goat's Cheese Salad with Red Onion Marmalade

Warm Goat's Cheese Salad with Red Onion Marmalade

This is an appealing starter to the senses - sight, smell and taste.  Warmed goat's cheese on a bed of wild rocket and drizzled with warm red onion marmalade. 

Ingredients:

For the red onion marmalade

• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 kg red onions, finely sliced
• 250 g soft brown sugar
• 75 ml red wine 
• 75 ml balsamic vinegar

For the salad

• Wild rocket leaves
• Goat's cheese

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook over a low heat until soft and translucent - about 7-8 minutes.
 
Add the sugar and stir as it melts. Add the wine  and vinegar and simmer until it reaches a sticky jam consistency. This should take about 45 minutes, but all you need to do is stir it occasionally.

To serve, warm the goat's cheese and arrange on the rocket; drizzle (generously) with the marmalade.

TIP: This marmalade is a delicious accompaniment with cheese and crackers.

Simple Guacamole

Easy, Quick & Tasty

Everyone loves guacamole and why not; it's very morish once you start with those tortillas. This is an easy one to impress your friends with.



Ingredients:
2 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1 medium tomato deseeded and roughl chopped
1 jalapeno chili chopped [add more or less your personal desire for heat!]
1/2 small onion finely chopped [you can use a red onion for extra colour]
Juice of 1 lime

Directions:
The easy bit... mash everything together with a fork; transfer to a small bowl and serve with tortilla chips! Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato & Coriander Salad (Salsa)

Quick & easy to make Salsa

Regular readers will notice that I have a lot of recipes with Tomatoes. True, I like tomatoes and they are good for you - a real bonus. This could be referred to as a Salsa or a Salad.

This quick side-salad is also good with cheese on crackers or toasted bread. It looks just as good as it tastes. Adjust the hot ingredients to your own liking.


Ingredients:
5 or 6 medium tomatoes, diced [ I often use cherry tomatoes for this especially in the summer when they are just full of sweetness, about a dozen or so]
1/2 cup of roughly chopped [fresh] coriander leaves
1 Red onion, diced
Juice from 1/2 a lime
1/2 a red chilli and 1 tbs of Olive Oil - or - 1 Tablespoon of chilli dipping sauce [adjust according to how much heat you like]


Directions:
Mix everything together and allow the flavours to infuse for at least 30 minutes before eating. The Chilli Dipping Sauce adds sweetness and heat (along with a touch of garlic); I tend to use it in preference to a chilli but that's a matter of taste.