Week two of avoiding carbs and I’m doing just fine. In fact, I’m loving it. Mostly because in the last week I’ve managed to pack away sushi (erm, rice), a pork and roast fennel burger (erm, bread) and a seriously deevine little crayfish pasta dish I slapped together from my super secret crustacean freezer stash. I told myself if I made my own pasta instead of going the packet route, it would somehow magically be low carb. After the second glass of Chardonnay I believed it.
But I’m back in the saddle. I think. So here is this week’s bad-bad-girl-no-carbs-for-you offering. Yes, it contains fruit. Which contains sugar. Which is a carb as far as I know. But really, I think extra points for me just because there’s no rice, bread or pasta in sight.
This is one of those recipes that looks frightfully ‘cheffie’ but is really so easy. You can grill the nectarines in a griddle pan or pop them on the braai. It’s absolutely perfect as a light lunch or fancy-ish starter.
All you need is…
1 log of plain chevin goat’s cheese (the one from Fairview is perfect)
dukkah
2 firm nectarines
half a cup blackberries
micro salad leaves
edible flowers (optional)
red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slice the goat’s cheese into 6 equal rounds. Use your hands to roll them into perfect little round balls. Spoon some dukkah onto a side plate and roll the cheese balls in it until they are evenly covered. Place in the fridge.
Cut the nectarines in half and remove the stone. Heat a griddle pan until seriously hot and brush the pan with a bit of olive oil or cooking oil. Place the nectarine halves cut side down in the pan and fry just until you have some lovely caramelized scorched lines. Plate the nectarines up with the dukkah cheese balls, the blackberries, micro leaves and flowers. Drizzle the micro leaves very lightly with a basic vinaigrette made with one part red wine vinegar to three parts olive oil, a touch of salt and a grinding of pepper. Now normally I would make a wine recommendation with this (think champagne dahling), but I really am trying to be good. Yeah, right.
serves
2
prep
10 min
cook
3-5 min
