Blue Monday salad

Serves 4

(Jason Lowe)

Blue Monday, created by Alex James's Evenlode Partnership, has become my favourite British blue cheese. You can serve this salad as a starter or side dish, but bear in mind the intensity of the dressing for the rest of the meal. If you can't get hold of cobnuts, substitute walnuts or hazelnuts. Use Blue Monday in the dressing, too, if you can get it.

25-30 cobnuts, shelled
tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
2-3tsp Cornish sea salt
4 small little gem lettuce, washed and dried
50-60g Blue Monday, or other blue cheese

For the dressing

1tbsp cider vinegar
tsp Tewkesbury mustard
20g blue cheese
2tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
2tbsp vegetable or corn oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the grill to medium. Place the cobnuts on a grill tray and mix with the rapeseed oil and salt. Grill until lightly toasted, then leave to cool.

To make the dressing, put the vinegar, mustard, blue cheese and oils in a blender and season to taste. If the dressing is too thick, thin it with a little water.

Toss the salad leaves in the dressing and arrange on serving plates or bowls. Break the cheese into pieces and scatter over the top of the salad, along with the toasted cobnuts.