Sauteed Red Cabbage Salad with Walnuts, Blue Cheese and Bacon

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

• ¼ cup walnut oil
• 80 gms walnut halves
• 1 ½ tsp garlic
• 400 gms red cabbage
• 4 tsp fresh thyme
• 4 Tbl balsamic vinegar
• 120gms blue cheese
• 8 bacon rashes
• 12 crostini - grilled or toasted French bread slices
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

Cook the bacon rashes until slightly crispy. Keep in warmer.

For the crostini, slice thin rounds of French bread, brush with oil, and grill until toasted.

Warm Salad:

Peel and finely chop a couple of garlic cloves.

Remove the centre stalk of the red cabbage and slice into long thin strips.

Take the fresh thyme and remove the leaves from the stalks, chop until fine.

Cut or crumble the blue cheese into small chunks.

To Cook and Serve

Have all the ingredients set up ready to go as it only takes 2 minutes to cook.

Start by heating up a large saute pan to moderate heat. Add the walnut oil and walnuts, cook for 20 seconds, then add the garlic, followed by cabbage and fresh thyme. Saute for a minute or so, mixing the ingredients.

Add the balsamic vinegar and toss through. Finally add the chopped blue cheese, stir through as you remove the pan from the heat.

Divide the warm salad onto hot plates, top each dish with a couple of rashes of bacon and garnish with the crostini.

Match with

The salad is so versatile that it could almost go with anything - except champagne or cabernet.

Turtle Bay Syrah 2006
Laroche Vin de Pays 2003 Syrah