Baking your own soda bread is much easier than you’d think – and it goes perfectly with this goat’s cheese and watercress salad.
Ingredients
- 100g (4oz) soft goat's cheese
- 1 x 100g bag watercress
- 1 pomegranate, seeds removed
- Olive oil and balsamic vinegar, to dress the salad
- For the soda bread:
- 225g (8oz) strong wholemeal flour
- 225g (8oz) strong white flour
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp salt
- 300ml (½pt) unsweetened soya milk
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F, gas mark 7). For the bread, sift the flours into a large bowl, adding any grains left in the sieve from the wholemeal. Add the bicarbonate and salt, mix well, then add the soya milk and combine to form a dough. Knead a little to shape into a ball and make a cross with a wooden spoon.
Place on a floured baking sheet and cook for 40-50 mins until it’s browned and feels hollow when you tap the base. Place on a wire rack to cool.
Once the bread has cooled, cut off two slices and top with the goat’s cheese. Grill for 3-4 mins or until the cheese has just started to turn soft and golden.
Meanwhile, mix watercress with the pomegranate seeds and dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve with the cheese on toast.
Top Tip
To get the seeds from the pomegranate, cut the fruit in half, bash with a rolling pin then squeeze seeds into a bowl. Or you can buy prepacked seeds in the salad aisle of most supermarkets.