One January lunch

After the festive period (and possibly some overindulgence!) many of us crave lighter, healthier, more nourishing foods. What has cheese got to do with it, you ask? Isn't it the opposite of light and healthy? It completely depends on what you make with it!

Today's recipe (if you can call it a recipe - it's more of a collection of ingredients that make up something greater - and more delicious - than the sum of their parts) is a filling, wintery salad made with our creamy Goatling. Let's make it! You'll need:

• Whole grains for base (pre-cooked for convenience) - provides fibre and slow-release energy

• Our creamy Goatling - teeming with live probiotic lactic acid bacteria that are good for your gut

• Leafy greens (a mix of watercress, spinach and rocket used here) - provide fibre and are high in polyphenols (quercetin and many others) that have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

• Beetroot - provides polyphenols (gallic acid, ferulic acid, betalains) and soluble and insoluble fibre

• Avocado - provides soluble and insoluble fibre and healthy monounsaturated fats

• Pomegranate seeds - provide fibre and polyphenols (ellagitannins)

• Pecan nuts - provide  monounsaturated fats and ellagic acid, gallic acid and other polyphenols (see a pattern here?)

• Peppery olive oil for dressing - provides monounsaturated fats.

• Salt and lemon juice/balsamic vinegar to taste

Mix it all and tuck in! Every bite is simultaneously creamy, chewy and crunchy, with earthy sweet beetroot matched by sharp, bitter greens and zesty explosions of pomegranate. And, of course, it would not be complete without the luscious, creamy goat's cheese to hug - envelop - every mouthful.

Who said that cheese can not be healthy for you?