Baby spinach and goat’s cheese salad

Says Matthew, "I made this salad using all local ingredients, virtually all of which came from within the Huon Valley. (The only thing that wasn’t from the valley, the walnuts, were foraged from under a tree in Hobart.) It tasted terrific, mostly because the produce was so good. Use whatever is great where you live, replacing the spinach with baby cos if that’s what grows nearby".

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls really small baby spinach
• 125 g shelled walnuts
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 200 g soft fresh goat’s cheese

Instructions

Check the spinach for dud yellow leaves, pull off any long stalks and wash and dry well.

Toss in the walnuts and some vinegar to just coat the leaves. I like to season it at this stage with a little salt and pepper.

Add the oil, toss again to just coat the leaves, and then add dobs or cubes of goat’s cheese, using your fingertips to mix through the salad.

Serve immediately.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.