Strawberry and Chèvre Salad

Lest you think all I eat is fish sauce and butter, here's a nice plate of freshness. This salad has evolved a great deal over the past few years from an initial and complicated attempt to recreate a restaurant chain's "California" version. For a time I painstakingly prepared candied pecans and rolled the goat's cheese in poppyseeds. Both details were delicious but this simple rendering is as satisfying and incredibly easy.

Any crumbled soft goat's cheese mixed with chopped fresh herbs will do but I have been using a fabulous mixture I accidentally invented a while back when I was in zealot dinner party mode. I was making a simple green salad with chèvre to serve alongside a gorgeous pile of steaming Choucroute and I went way overboard in the amount of cheese I marinated in olive oil and herbs. The leftover mixture proved endlessly useful. I recommend trying it yourself. Crumble plain chèvre, drizzle with good olive oil and add chopped fresh thyme and rosemary. This will keep well covered in the refrigerated for ages. Possible uses include stirring into scrambled eggs and pasta dishes, spreading on sandwiches or burgers, or as a convenient treat with crackers and a nice glass of wine.

So, the salad. Dress three or four huge handfuls of mixed greens with the most perfect dressing: a scant teaspoon of olive oil, a big squeeze of fresh lemon and a sprinkle of coarse salt. Toss until well coated and taste a leaf to see if the dressing needs to be adjusted. Tumble in several quartered strawberries and a half cup or so of the crumbled herb chèvre. Toss gently. This is fabulous served with grilled or roasted chicken.