Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Warm Goat Cheese Salad


This salad is fun to make, at least for me, and is a nice alternative to most salads I generally throw together by doing nothing more than washing, slicing, and combining ingredients. It also tastes fantastic. If you like goat cheese, this is worth a try. It does have walnuts, however, so if you're not a fan of them, or are allergic to nuts, you could leave them out or perhaps substitute for them with something else.

I got this recipe from Sunset Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, which my mom gave to me about fifteen years ago when I was doing the vegetarian thing. I still use this cookbook a LOT and recommend it highly to anyone who's looking for delicious meatless dishes. I have several vegetarian cookbooks, and none of them compare to Sunset. In fact, none of them even come close.

This recipe takes about 15-20 minutes to prepare, and another 10 minutes or so for baking the walnuts and broiling the goat cheese.

Ingredients
3/4 cup walnut pieces
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
6 oz medium-firm goat cheese (chevre)
10-12 oz mixed salad greens (I use sweet baby lettuce)

Directions

1. Spread the walnuts evenly in a large shallow baking pan and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes, or until they turn a dark golden brown. (Be careful; walnuts burn easily, at least in my oven.)

2. Combine vinegar, mustard, and oil in a bowl, then mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Cut the goat cheese into 6 equal pieces and place in the original pan with walnuts. Broil about 3 inches below heat source for around 3 minutes or until your cheese is speckled brown and slightly melted.

4. Arrange mixed salad greens on 6 plates.

5. Place a piece of warm goat cheese in the center of each salad and sprinkle with nuts. Serve with dressing. Makes 6 servings.

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3 comments:

  1. Mmmm . . . straightforward ingredients for a delicious salad! I would definitely keep the walnuts but a good substitute might be fruit such as dried cranberries or fresh strawberries.

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  2. I totally agree with you. It occurs to me that dried fig (too sweet?) might also work, but your suggestion of dried cranberries (nice and tart) sounds like the perfect solution. Thanks!

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  3. What a nice & easy yet so yummie salad!

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