This is hardly a recipe, yet, it’s something that makes your guests think that you’ve hung the moon, when presented with a dish of these creamy, pearly-white slices, drenched in lemony olive oil and sprinkled with a confetti of golden ribbons of lemon zest and mint.

It’s simple, impactful, and furthermore, very flavorful!

I used a firm goat’s cheese that I found at our local Turkish market. It’s much like feta, but with the tang of goat’s cheese rather than the sharp saltiness of feta. Though, feta would work beautifully for this.

For the ribbons, I used a citrus zester, which makes beautiful curls. But, if you only have a microplane, by all means, run with it. The zest flavors the olive oil with it’s lemony sharpness and permeates the cheese. I added a bit of mint for coolness and to mirror the mint in the Garbanzo Bean & Quinoa Salad that I made to go along with this.

Marinated Firm Goat’s Cheese

Ingredients

1 pound firm goat’s cheese, cut into slices

zest curls of two lemons

juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup olive oil

sprinkling sea salt

2 tablespoons fresh mint, julienned (optional)

 

 

Instructions

Place the lemon zest curls, lemon juice, mint (if using) and olive oil in a small bowl.  Allow the mixture to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Arrange the cheese onto your platter of choice. Pour the oil onto the cheese, lifting the slices as you drizzle. Scatter the zest and mint on the top of the arranged cheese and tuck a few of the curls between the slices. Sprinkle with sea salt. Then, cover and refrigerate for several hours.

Notes

For best results refrigerate for six hours.