Cottage Cheese Salad

It’s so hot here this week, I cannot bear to turn on my oven, so once again I have turned to salad for delicious rescue! At first glance, the recipe title doesn’t sound too exciting. Cottage cheese has gotten a bad rap over the years. It’s perceived as a sort of retro diet food, something you eat when you are depriving yourself. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. On a hot day, a cottage cheese salad makes a delicious, cooling and nutritious lunch. I offer two variations here, one with sweet and one savory. Whether you use “full fat” or “low fat” cottage cheese is entirely up to you - the purpose of this salad is not weight watching, it’s enjoyment. Both recipes serve one, but it’s no problem to double them (or triple etc).

Both recipes are so easy, they are fabulous for days when you are busy and too hot to think. Try them served with a crusty bread roll or some delicious savory biscuits. If you are feeling really indulgent, serve the sweet salad with a buttered scone. I know that is terribly untraditional, but trust me, it’s delicious!

Sweet Cottage Cheese Salad

two or three handfuls of prepared Iceberg lettuce or sweet Little Gem lettuce
generous scoop of cottage cheese with pineapple
(if you can only find plain cottage cheese, use a small tin of crushed pineapple, drained)
a handful of sliced strawberries

Place the lettuce in a large salad bowl. If you could not find cottage cheese with pineapple already in it, mix the drained tin of crushed pineapple into the cottage cheese. Put a good scoop of cottage cheese and pineapple on top of the lettuce. Scatter the sliced strawberries on top.

Savory Cottage Cheese Salad

two to three handfuls of prepared savory salad leaves
(try Romaine, or a small bag of mixed salad with lollo rosso and/or rocket)
1 generous scoop cottage cheese
Chives, scissored into small pieces (about 1 or 2 teaspoons)
2 juicy tomatoes, sliced in quarters

Combine the cottage cheese with the chives. Place the lettuce in a large salad bowl and top with the cottage cheese. Scatter the tomatoes around.