Back from Ireland! (and Broccoli Tomato Salad)

We are back from our whirlwind tour of Ireland!  It was a fabulous trip with lots of quality family time and also some alone time exploring the wild west of Ireland.  As always, Ireland was charming and wonderful, and we ate very well!  Too well, in fact.  So this week we're on a high-fiber, low-fat diet.  The first installment is this broccoli tomato salad, adapted from the Avoca Salads Cookbook. 

Ingredients:
- Florets from 2 heads of broccoli
- 1 pint cherry tomatos, quartered or halved, depending on the size
- 3T pine nuts, toasted
- 3T chevre
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4T red wine vinegar
- 1t dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper
- 2T sunflower oil (can substitute olive oil)

Cut up the broccoli and tomatos.  Toast your pine nuts.  I like to toast my seeds and nuts in a pan on the stovetop, but some prefer to put them under the broiler.  I like the stovetop because you can keep a very close eye on the nuts and toss them as needed.  The up-side of using the broiler is that you can really get it down to a science once you know your oven and how long each type of nut needs to toast.  Once toasted, add your pine nuts.  Use a spoon to cut up the chevre as you add it in, so that it's in small pieces that are easily distributed.

To make the dressing combine the garlic cloves, vinegar, mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl or a small blender/food processor.  Slowly stream in the oil while whisking to make an emulsion.  Pour over the salad.

This recipe makes two perfect lunch portions, so hopefully soon we'll be back on track to feeling fiter and healthier!