Goat Cheese and Olives Salad
It’s been quite a while since I last posted some recipes for salads, and these definitely belong to my favorite meals. We can sneak a lot of vegetables into them, prepare them in just a few minutes and choose our favorite ingredients. Moreover, it’s a great lunchbox idea. Will you have a try? 🙂
Which goat cheese to use
Two kinds work here and they give two different salads. A soft, fresh chèvre crumbles into the rocket and melts slightly against the olive oil, so every forkful carries some of it. A matured goat cheese, the kind you can shave into flakes as in the photograph, stays separate and gives sharp, salty bites instead.
Whichever you pick, take it out of the fridge fifteen minutes before serving. Cold goat cheese tastes of very little, and this salad has only seven ingredients to work with.
Why rocket and olives
Rocket is peppery and slightly bitter, olives are salty and fatty, and those two pull in opposite directions in a way that keeps the salad from tasting flat. The dried tomatoes sit in the middle: sweet and concentrated, they bridge the two.
This is also why there is no need for more vegetables. Adding cucumber or peppers dilutes the contrast rather than improving it. If you want the salad more substantial, add protein instead, the way I do in a chicken and rocket salad.
The dressing, in the right proportion
Half a teaspoon of olive oil to half a teaspoon of lemon juice is a one to one ratio, which is sharper than a classic vinaigrette and deliberately so. The olives and the cheese already bring plenty of fat, so the dressing is there for acidity rather than richness.
Dress it just before eating. Rocket is a delicate leaf and collapses within minutes once the acid touches it.
Packing it for later
Keep the dressing separate in a small jar and add it at the table, and put the cheese and olives at the bottom of the container with the rocket on top. That way the leaves stay dry and crisp until you shake everything together.
A salad like this takes five minutes, which makes it easy to keep up when the whole week of meals is already planned.
Preparation
I put the rocket into a bowl, added halved olives, dried tomatoes cut into strips, and diced cheese. I sprinkled the salad with olive oil, lemon juice and topped it with herbs. Ready!
Goat cheese and olives salad
Ingredients
Method
- Put the rocket into a bowl.
- Add the halved olives, the dried tomatoes cut into strips and the diced goat cheese.
- Sprinkle with olive oil and lemon juice.
- Top with herbes de Provence and serve.
Notes
Frequently asked questions
Both a soft fresh chèvre and a matured one work, and they give different results. Fresh goat cheese crumbles into the rocket and softens against the olive oil, so it spreads through the whole bowl. A matured cheese can be shaved into flakes and stays separate, giving sharper, saltier bites. Take either out of the fridge fifteen minutes before serving, because cold goat cheese tastes of very little.
Baby spinach or lamb’s lettuce are the closest, though both are milder. Rocket is peppery and slightly bitter, and that is what balances the salty olives and the sweet dried tomatoes, so with a milder leaf you may want a little more lemon juice to keep the contrast.
As it stands it is a light lunch or a side. If you want it more substantial, add protein rather than more vegetables: extra vegetables dilute the contrast between the peppery leaves and the salty olives. There is a chicken and rocket salad on the blog built the same way but with chicken.
Keep the dressing separate in a small jar and add it at the table. Put the cheese and olives at the bottom of the container with the rocket on top, so the leaves stay dry until you shake everything together. Rocket collapses within minutes once acid touches it.
Because the olives and the cheese already bring plenty of fat, so the dressing is there for acidity rather than richness. That makes it sharper than a classic vinaigrette, which usually runs three parts oil to one part acid, and it is deliberate. A salad like this takes five minutes, which makes it easy to keep up when the week is planned. The Diet & Training by Ann app puts the menu together and gives you a shopping list to match.
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