An Irish Lunch: Courgettes Grape Tomato Salad and Cottage Cheese is my attempt to recreate a delicious dinner that I had at a pub in Ireland. Yes, I had this for dinner! So, breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, this recipe is a delicious change from sandwiches, soup or a salad. In a way, I guess you could consider it a “composed” salad of courgettes grape tomato salad and cottage cheese, but in any event, it’s lite and nutritious, too.
Served on my English plates of the Irish Blarney Castle, courgettes grape tomato salad and cottage cheese is the first meal in my week-long celebration of all things Irish! Want to know more about my Blarney Castle dishes? Check out yesterday’s post: The Gift from the Leprechauns of Blarney Castle.
My friend, Christin, and I traveled to Ireland in late August 2007. We rented a car and 2 silly girls from California traveled on the wrong side of the road in a foreign country with really no game plan except that we needed to be at our destination hotel each day to spend the night. With no GPS and just maps, somehow we traveled the narrow winding roads from one end of Ireland to the other and back, usually arriving at our hotel in the mid to late evening.
In August, at least in 2007, Ireland stayed light until 8:30 to 9:00 p.m., so getting lost was never really a problem because, in the end, we always got to where we were going. Luck, serendipity, leprechauns – don’t know what was on our shoulder but whatever it was, we were truly blessed.
We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher in the early evening. It was the time of day known as the “gloaming” and the fading light added to the magic. Also, because we were late in arriving (lost along the way), no tour buses were lined up to dispatch thongs of tourists. It’s like we had the place all to ourselves. You can see pictures of that magical day in this post, An Irish Blessing (or two), that I wrote last year about our trip to Ireland.
Anyway, after spending time at the Cliffs of Moher, we found our guest house for the evening, checked in and then headed back into the town of Lahinch to find something to eat. Our choices were limited because of the late hour, but the pub was charming and this meal, courgettes grape tomato salad and cottage cheese, delicious! Unfortunately, I did not write down the name of the pub and an internet search did not produce a name for that pub, plus I’ve never been able to find a recipe similar to this.
By the way, in Europe (and Ireland), zucchini are called courgettes, thus the chosen name for this recipe!
Here’s the Grape Tomato Salad recipe:
PrintAn Irish Lunch: Courgettes with Grape Tomato Salad and Cottage Cheese
A recreation of a dinner that I had at a pub in Lahinch, Ireland. Lite, refreshing and delicious!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Category: Salad
- Method: No-bake
- Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients
- 8 ounces red and yellow grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 2 tablespoons Newman’s Own Lite Balsamic Dressing
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 medium zucchini (courgettes), grated
- 2 cups cottage cheese
Instructions
- Place the sliced tomatoes in a bowl, drizzle with balsamic dressing and set aside to marinate.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to sauté pan and heat over medium heat.
- Add grated zucchini (courgettes) and sauté for a few minutes until tender.
- Divide cooked zucchini onto 4 dinner plates.
- Divide and spoon tomatoes onto the 4 dinner plates.
- Add ½ cup cottage cheese to each dinner plate.
- Sprinkle each with salt and pepper.
- Serve.
Keywords: Grape Tomato Salad
Try this Irish lunch of courgettes grape tomato salad and cottage cheese. I’m sure you’ll love the change of pace and taste!
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other Irish inspired recipes)
WOw you make cottage cheese look so good! Thanks for this tasty inspiration!
You’re welcome! It’s been “on my mind” since that day in Ireland. Thanks for dropping by!