Roasted Carrots, Goat Cheese and Buckwheat

It’s officially November and you can panic now, Chrsitmas is around the corner.

In my kitchen this month, I’ve got a whole kilogram log ( 2.2lbs) of goat cheese. Amongst other things I made a lovely Roasted Baby Carrot, Tomato and Buckwheat salad with goat cheese and buttermilk, and ate it with very impressively baby Kale leaves. (Ho hum we haven’t seen the last of Kale yet)

I also have this jar of Cuttlefish Ink given to me by Rebecca from Intolerant chef. The challenge was to make somehing out of it by the 14th of November but I have a couple of other projects due by then so I am afraid I will have to have a bit longer on that challenge Bec.! I have become friends with Rebecca despite the fact she lives in Canberra, sadly too far away. Thanks for being such a supportive friend. You are an inspirational person Bec x

I have two special bottles of wine given to me by The Tulloch family @ Keith Tulloch Wines in the Hunter Valley.  The Rose is my new love………but more on that later in the month.

And lastly I don’t want to look like a show off BUT…I am very proud AND excited to have won a prize so I really wanted to share it with you. I wrote a recipe Grilled Asparagus and lamb Salad with Beetroot and Chia dressing with Bioglan superfood products and won the “Dinner” category. The crowd sourced recipes are going to be compiled into a cookbook that is released in March. All of the recipes were chosen from hundreds of entries and then cooked several times by a kitchen team. The final recipes chosen were then cooked by one of the judges, Jody Vassallo. I had no idea about the prize, I didn’t even know there was one, until the day they rung.  There are $2500 worth of products a vitamix, scanpans, global knives and a whole host of superfoods. I’ll be giving a book away when they come off the press.

In the meantime, I’m back to cooking. This Baby Roasted Carrots, Goat Cheese and Buckwheat salad  platter makes a good nibbling plate with a fork and a few crackers to keep people occupied while they wait for dinner. It’s also great as a side dish, adding some creamy vegetable action to a piece of grilled steak, chicken or even a sausage straight from the Barbeque. It could even be scaled down to make a great individual starter. All parts can be made ahead. I left the stalks on the carrots and roasted those too. They were crispy and quite delicious in their own right! . The tomatoes break open and create a sweet tomato dressing.  I just tossed a few nicely dressed baby Kale leaves and a slosh of Olive  oil on to finish. Don’t be put off if you don’t like Goat Cheese. Use a creamy Danish Feta and make it in the same way. No buckwheat?. Then use Farro, Barley, giant Couscous or even roasted Pepitas. Let nothing stand in your way!

Roasted Carrots with Goat Cheese and Buckwheat

Share this as nibbles or as a side dish to Steak or Chicken

5 from 5 votes

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Cuisine Vegetarian

Ingredients

  

• 300 gm Goat cheese (10.58 oz approx)
• 60 ml buttermilk (a little more if needed to mix the Goat cheese to a nice softish puree)
• 1/2 cup cooked buckwheat (buckwheat is gluten free but you could use farro if this doesn't matter to you)
• 1 bunch baby Carrots
• 80 ml lemon olive oil or plain olive oil (4 tablespoons)
• salt and pepper
• 6 Cherry Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup baby Kale leave (or rocket)
• 20 ml balsamic vinegar (1 Tablespoon)

Instructions

 

• Cook 1/2 cup of buckwheat in salted boiling water till tender and drain. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and 1 Tablespoon of lemon or other Olive Oil and 1 teaspoon of the balsamic, stir well to dress then set aside to cool
• Toss the baby carrots ( I left the stalks on but you can cut then off if you like!) and tomatoes in lemon oil and salt and pepper and then roast till tender.
• The tomatoes will be ready in 10 minutes so remove them and put them aside till the carrots are done. Approx 20 minutes, or till just tender.
• Mix the Goat cheese in a bowl with the buttermilk till nice and loose and spread onto a platter. Add the carrots, buckwheat and the tomatoes. Toss the Kale leaves in the balsamic and a drop of lemon oil and sprinkle any remaining dressing over the platter. Add the leaves to the platter.
• The tomatoes will burst forming a nice intense dressing.

Notes

The tomatoes can also be tossed in a non stick pan till they are softened and you can substitute creamy feta for the goats cheese if you like. Can't eat cheese?. Then use cashew cream.
Make this well before you need it and leave all but the cheese at room temperature

Also let nothing stand in your way of visiting other people  in their kitchen this month , why not visit Celia at www.figjamandlimecordial.com and link up to the 40 or more kitchens on show.

NO LONGER ACTIVE