One of my favourite television cooking series was Jamie Oliver’s “At Home”. I found it quite inspiring to watch because of his enviable vegetable garden.
Yes, I know, he had a gardener who kept the garden in great shape, but I still think it is something to aspire to. Jamie made it look so easy and, for me, it couldn’t get any better than wandering out into the garden and picking the ingredients that I needed fresh from the ground.
While that’s a dream for another day, I can still enjoy Jamie’s ideas for cooking with fresh produce. And now that Spring is here, there’s plenty to choose from.
Brisbane is warming up at the moment and I really had a hankering for a gorgeous salad. The strawberry salad with speck and haloumi from Jamie At Home hit the spot. Sweet, sour and salty goodness!
The nicest thing…it was easy to make and rewarded big time on flavour. The salad was light and refreshing on a warm day.
I have to admit to making a few adjustments to this recipe. I used prosciutto instead of speck, and rather than serving that raw, I grilled it for a few minutes so it was crispy. I also used roughly a third more strawberries and lots of salad leaves.
The combination of basil, haloumi and macerated strawberries with balsamic vinegar in one mouthful was divine. In Jamie’s own words, “a brilliant thing to eat”.