#readcookeat recipe : Orange, rocket and goat's cheese salad (The Long Way Home)

I've recently been reading The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (click through to read my review), which is one of the books from her Inspector Gamache series. The likeable retired detective lives in the quiet village of Three Pines in Quebec and, just like Sgt Windflower, another Canadian detective, Gamache seems to really enjoy his food ! There were several foodie references that I bookmarked, but none of them were particularly typical of Canada or Quebec.

p133 'Then why do you think he went back this past winter?', asked Gamache, ignoring his grilled shrimp with mango salsa. 

This took me right back to the summer, when I often knock up a quick but tasty mango salsa to go with barbecued meats, such as this Brazilian BBQ Chicken with Sweet Potato Wedges and Mango Salsa - sunshine on a plate ! Not really winter food though.

The next foodie mention made me smile because, by pure chance, it was something I'd made just days before I came across it in the book !

p418 Their coffees were cold and the lemon meringue pie sat untouched in the middle of the table.

I made mini lemon meringue bites for a slight twist and they were gobbled up in minutes so I'll definitely have to make them again.

There was another foodie mention that I had already made some time ago :

p99 'Dominique and I took the horses through the woods,' said Annie, helping herself to watermelon, feta and mint salad.

I'd used up the end of a pack of Mini Boursin in my Watermelon, Cheese & Mint Salad, but it should have been feta really !

So that let me with one final dish to try out :

p37 'The anniversary was actually a few weeks ago,' said Clara. 'I bought a bottle of wine and two steaks from Monsieur Béliveau , and made that orange, arugula and goat cheese salad Peter likes.' 

I had to check what arugula is and discovered it's rocket - unfortunately, there was a distinct lack of rocket in the supermarket when we did our weekly shop, so it ended up being made with lettuce instead !

 Orange, rocket and goat's cheese salad

ingredients :

rocket (or lettuce)

1 orange

2 slices of goat's cheese per person

a drizzle of balsamic salad dressing

the juice from the orange (from the chopping board)

Rip up the lettuce in a bowl and toss with a little balsamic dressing. Cut the peel and pith off the orange and cut into half-segments. Add to the bowl and pour over the juice from the chopping board. I served ours with salmon rather than steak - just put the goat's cheese slices (I halved them) in the oven on a baking tray for the last five minutes. Scoop them on top of the salad just before serving.

It was a simple, light meal to throw together and the salad flavours worked well together, but it was lacking a bit in wow-factor. I think the pepperiness of rocket would have brought more to it than the rather insipid lettuce I had in the fridge though.

Adding to the #readcookeat linky over at Chez Maximka.