Can it just be Spring already?!
I am SO over this Winter… Bleh.

Everywhere are hints of Spring just waiting to make its appearance:
Jasmine are in full bloom already;
The beautiful scent of fruit blossoms;
Clear skies and sunny mid-days;
The occasional rumble of thunder, just waiting for the official go-ahead;
Later sunsets;
Awesome new seasonal produce in-store, such as strawberries and pea shoots! Hurray!

Right, so clearly I am heading somewhere with all of this…
Why yes, I am!
With all these hints of Spring, I think it’s time to dive into Salad-Ville, there are so much more variety of produce to use, it’s like emerging from some deep, dark, cave that was Winter.

So, here is a lovely and simple, yet very exciting and super tasty GREEN salad:

You will need:

A selection of baby salad leaves {I love the ‘specialty baby leaf salad’ from Pick ‘n Pay, or Woolies’ mixed herb salad leaves}
4 medium baby marrows {I was so bummed to find out that zucchini is actually an entirely different marrow variety, and not just a synonym for baby marrow…}
A cup of fresh peas, blanched in hot water
A handful of fresh mint leaves
One and a half ‘rolls’ of soft plain goats’ cheese or Chevin
A handful of fresh baby pea shoots {Pick ‘n Pay have these in stock at the moment}
Olive oil
A sprinkle of sea salt

Start by thinly slicing your baby marrows. Place onto a large grilling sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Grill in the oven for half an hour, rotating and turning them every 10 minutes. Let a few get charred – so tasty and fun!

Let the baby marrows cool and then assemble the salad:

Place the salad leaves in a large bowl and add the mint leaves.
Add about half the peas and the baby marrows.
Top with the goats’ cheese {sliced or broken into chunks}.
Scatter the rest of the peas on top and garnish with the pea shoots.

Serve with olive oil and balsamic vinegar – it really doesn’t need anything else.
Let each person dress their own helping, that way you don’t need to dress the entire salad and it will stay fresh if there are any leftover.

This is quite a large salad and can be used in a salad jar the next day for lunch:
Just add some leftover chicken or steak and drizzle with olive oil.

Enjoy! x