Sluttishly Savoury: Grilled Peach and Goat's Cheese Salad

I had a craving for peaches so off to the market I went and bought a big punnet of what looked like lovely juicy fruits. When I got home and was able to remove the netting and actually touch them though, I found they were nowhere near ripe and were really hard - I hate it when that happens. Obviously now all I wanted was peaches so I decided to give them a bit of a grilling to see if this helped. Not only did it soften the peaches but it brought out their sweetness, total result!

I raided the fridge and threw together this salad which turned out to be bloody lovely! I have a bit of a thing for balsamic glaze at the moment so used it to stick the salad to the plate (I also got to pretend I was Jackson Pollock for a moment making a work of art right there in my kitchen). Blackberry vinegar is amazing with goats cheese as the tang cuts through the creaminess of the cheese and the sweetness of both work beautifully together. I get my blackberry vinegar from a lady at my local car boot sale but you can buy it pretty easily from most delis or buy online from Womersley Foods who do a cracking one! A great alternative is just to add a bit of red wine vinegar to some strawberry coulis which you can buy everywhere or make your own using frozen blackberries).

You'll need: 

• peaches, halved and stone removed
• 100g soft goat's cheese
• 1/4 of a red onion very thinly sliced
• mixed salad leaves - I used watercress and spinach
• basil leaves
• balsamic glaze
• blackberry vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper

Make it!

1. Pop your peaches under a grill, or use a griddle pan, to soften and sear then allow to cool so they don't wilt your salad leaves.
2. Channel Jackson Pollock and drizzle your glaze all over your plate then pile on your salad leaves, onion, basil, peaches and crumble over your goat's cheese. Sprinkle some blackberry vinegar, season with pepper and enjoy!