Winter Salad with Goats Cheese & Bresaola

Winter Salad with Goats Cheese & Bresaola Recipe

“Salad” and “winter” aren’t typically a pairing you’d put much thought towards. However, this Winter Salad will put that sentiment firmly to rest. You can tell by the colours alone that this salad really does embrace the winter spirit!

I just love the colourful display in this salad – the golden sweet potato, the ruby chard, the vibrant lamb’s leaf. Salads can so often be thoroughly boring, so I am really glad this Winter Salad is anything but.

When I was creating this recipe, I was in one of those “too much” moods. And although it may seem as though there’s a lot going on, it actually all makes sense and comes together wonderfully.

The saltiness of the bresaola cuts through the sweetness of the sweet potato. The Pumpkin crunch of the pumpkin seeds plays fabulously with the softness of the goat’s cheese. All the flavours and there are many, work together to complement the entire salad, making each mouthful a joy.

Although there may be a lot of ingredients coming together in this Winter Salad, each and every one of them firmly deserves its place.

Inspiration

My inspiration for this recipe came from a rare beef salad I enjoyed many many months ago, whilst out shopping with a friend. The weather had turned for the worst, so we sought refuge in a bar and decided a quick bite to eat, and a glass of wine was required.

The salad was a much simpler version of this recipe and featured chargrilled, rare steak tossed through salad leaves, goats cheese, and sweet potato. I loved the flavours and knew I need to replicate it at home.

One day, after a dinner party the previous night, I had some bresaola leftover from a charcuterie board and decided, well, rather than use steak, why not use bresaola? It’s an Italian cured meat, seasoned with spices such as juniper and nutmeg. It’s a must-have on any charcuterie board and a favourite of mine.

Supplementing the steak for the bresaola worked resoundingly well! However, if you want to try this recipe with steak instead, I fully encourage you.

Let’s talk ingredients…

Bresaola: This will be available at most supermarkets in their deli-meat section, near the prosciutto. It’s a deep, dark reddish-purple colour. As mentioned, feel free to swap this out for thinly sliced rare roast beef. It’ll add a different dimension to the salad, but be just as lovely.

Goats Cheese: This recipe calls for Goats Cheese pearls, which you will find amongst the speciality cheeses at your local supermarket. If you’re unable to find these, simple crumble some soft goats cheese through the salad for the same great flavour sensation.

Pumpkin Seeds: You will find these in the grain section of the supermarket, amongst the beans and legumes. I use pumpkin seeds fairly often, and they make a great snack too.

Beetroot: Although I love the sweetness of pickled beetroot, this recipe calls for fresh beetroot to be used. It has a deeper, earthier flavour which is perfect for this winter salad. If you can buy a premade salad leaf mix which contains beetroot, that’s a perfect option for this salad.

Salad leaves: If you can’t find a blend of these leaves (Apollo Lettuce, Lamb’s Lettuce, Red Chard) easily, any mixed leaves salad will work well. Work with what you have, and don’t stress if you can’t find what the recipe specifies!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Always use EVOO for salad dressings as it has a peppery flavour perfect for a light drizzling. Normal olive oil will just give you greasy leaves – not very desirable at all. However, if you have another light, flavoursome oil you’d prefer, feel free to swap these out.