Fried Goat Cheese (or why to eat more salad)

As the title implies, fried goat cheese is a great reason to eat more salad and frankly, I need reasons. It's not that I don't love salad, I do...when other people make it for me. I hate making salad. It never tastes as good as the restaurant kinds. Granted, I realize that's because the restaurant kind is full of eight syllable, multi-hyphenated, chemical substances; but it tastes good.

However, after figuring out this recipe, I now make more way salads. Every salad I make tastes unbelievably good as long as there is a medallion or two of fried goat cheese included. This is a great addition to the Spinach Strawberry Salad. These also look super elegant when placed atop salad in their own little salad bowls.

Fried Goat Cheese

1 small log soft goat cheese (not feta)
breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup flour
3 tbsp grapeseed oil or olive oil
a sharp knife
paper towel
bowl of hot water, not boiling, just hot

Place breadcrumbs, egg and flour in three separate small bowls. Dip your knife in the hot water for a few seconds to get the metal warm. Wipe dry. Using the warm knife, slice one 1/4 to 1/2 inch medallion off the goat cheese log. Wipe off whatever cheese stuck to your knife and dip it back in the hot water for a few seconds. Wipe dry. Slice another medallion off the goat cheese log. Repeat the above until you have enough medallions or you use all the goat cheese.

Now treat the medallions like you would bread chicken cutlets....flour first, shake off excess...egg second...breadcrumbs third. Repeat with each medallion and place them all on a plate. Cover and put in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

(While they are chilling, prepare all the rest of your salad.)

Get out your saute pan, add the oil and heat the pan at medium. When oil is nice and hot (I sprinkle a little water in it and if the water spurts and steams, then it's ready) add your breaded medallions. Don't crowd them. Fry on each side for about 2-3 minutes until they are golden brown on each side. Serve immediately, while still nice and hot, atop your favorite salad.

Yum... I'm making this for dinner now.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

A few weeks ago, we ate at this little hotel restaurant with barely anyone in there and no front door. You actually had to go into the hotel entrance and down a long hallway to even get to the restaurant. I was not expecting much. But since it was late, we were staying at this particular hotel, and we did not feel like driving all over, we ate there. More proof, if proof were needed, that you shouldn't judge a restaurant by it's entrance. It was incredibly delicious and super fast. Their portions were also enormous and forewarned by our friendly waitress, we easily split an appetizer and entree between the two of us.

On a side note: This is our standard we're-not-that-hungry or let's-save-money-but-still-eat-out strategy. If you both have similar tastes, this works especially great when away on vacation or at restaurants that serve huge portions.

Anyway, the appetizer we ended up getting was a spinach and strawberry salad with pecans and goat cheese. It was so tasty and looked so simple that as soon as I got home, I tried it myself. The only difference is that I added chicken. It is just as delicious and such a simple and quick, but still healthy meal that I had to share it.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

1 bag baby spinach
10 large strawberries, washed and sliced
1/2 cup pecan pieces
2 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced
1 small log goat cheese, broken up into bite size pieces
Trader Joe's Champagne Vinaigrette or favorite light vinaigrette


After dividing the spinach onto two separate plates, line each plate with strawberries. Any extra strawberries place on top of spinach bed (or eat them yourself).

 
Place chicken pieces on top of each spinach bed, followed by pecans and goat cheese pieces. Lightly pour vinaigrette over the top. Enjoy.

Notes: I cooked the chicken on the grill pan with a little bit of olive oil, basil, rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper; 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through. It is packed with flavour and so easy to make that I make a bunch of it at once and use it in everything. Also, goat cheese is creamier than feta so it doesn't really crumble, just so you know.

A Quick Mediterranean Meal

Recently, we went away for the weekend for a wedding. We had a lovely time being away with family and friends, and being able to enjoy the truly beautiful wedding. 

After three days of rich, delicious foods and a long drive back, I was not in the mood to cook anything over the top nor were either of us that hungry. So I raided the fridge for something that was healthy, quick, tasty and light. Not an easy task, but I did come up with something...

3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cucumber, roughly chopped
half of a red onion, diced
1 tbsp parsley
2 tsp basil
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
store bought hummus
1 small jar kalamata olives
Naan bread, heated on the stove and cut into strips
Feta cheese, cubed and tossed with olive oil and choice of herbs (I found this all done for me at Trader Joe's)

So, it looks like a long list of ingredients but its still quick. After chopping the tomatoes, cucumber and onion and putting them in a bowl, I mixed together the parsley, basil, oil, vinegar, garlic, Dijon, salt and pepper in a little jar with a tight fitting lid and shook it really well. Then I poured the dressing all over the veggies and set it aside. I heated the Naan bread on my griddle just enough so that it was warm on both sides and then sliced it into short strips. I put the olives and feta into their own little bowls and set the table. I had bought a sample pack of four different hummus flavors so I just put the whole container right on the table.

The whole set up took about fifteen minutes and it was delicious! And again, may I say how much I love Trader Joe's since everything I used here was from that fabulous store!

Salad Dressings, Dips or Marindes

Have you every read the back of a salad dressing bottle? The ingredient list is filled with poly-syllabic words like monosulfosis and polydextrosonity (I made those up). And nothing tastes better than dressing you make at home. It's easy, tasty and made with the best ingredients you can get your hands on.

Granted, no dressing you make at home is going to have a shelf life of a hundred years but be honest, aren't you a little disturbed about how long store-bought dressing lasts, even after you open it?

Thought so.

In light of the above, I have assembled my three favorite (at least for now) make at home dressings.

Honey Mustard
Garlic Dijon Vinaigrette
Bacon Shallot Vinaigrette

Honey Mustard is the easiest thing I've ever made that tastes this good. This is great with chicken tenderloins coated in almond meal or crushed Ritz crackers and fried. It's also great with french fries and exceptional on salad with the aforementioned chicken cut up on top.

Ingredients:
5 tbsp good honey
3 tbsp good dijon (I like Grey Poupon)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Directions: Mix extremely well. Yes, that's it. Just mix. I told you it was easy!

Garlic Dijon Vinaigrette is also extremely easy just with more ingredients. This is the dressing from my Panzanella recipe. It's just as fabulous as a marinade for chicken or on regular salad with feta cheese. Yum!

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup good olive oil
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp basil
salt and pepper

Directions: Whisk vigorously.

Bacon Shallot Vinaigrette is a little bit more involved but if you have a blender, that will make it easier. I use this dressing on a salad that I make with chicken slices, grapes, dried cranberries, pistacios and pears. The slightly onion-y, saltyness of the dressing compliments the sweetness of the fruits quite nicely in my opinion.

Ingredients:

1 large garlic clove, chopped

1 small shallot, chopped1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp good honey
1 tbsp dried tarragon
2 slices cooked bacon
salt and pepper

In a small saute pan, add a little olive oil and the shallot and garlic clove. Cook a couple of minutes until golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. When cool, add to your blender. Add all the other ingredients to the blender. Blend.

I store all of these in the fridge in jam jars for about a week. Having homemade dressings completely made and on hand make dinners and lunches even easier. Marinade, dressing or dip, these three are a great addition to your fridge!

Warm Winter Salad...yes warm.

I was all in the middle of posting another recipe but I have put that on hold to give you all this one. THIS IS FABULOUS!! I swear it's just as mind-blowingly flavor packed as the original panzanella but it's warm! Which makes it great for winter. Who wants to eat salad in the freezing winter months? Coming home from outside shoveling snow to eat......salad?!?!? No thank you! I personally want warmth and hearty flavors. Unfortunately, I also have an aversion to broth based soups. I love cream based soups but broth based: chicken noodle, french onion, minestrone, nope, not interested. But, that's really for another post.

I found this in a Martha Stewart magazine about the Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. I wish I had known about this bakery when I was there this summer. Alas. But thanks to Martha, I can enjoy some of the recipes from there, including this amazing salad.

It's the perfect answer to my need for hearty flavors and warmth. I was a little worried about making it since the original recipe called for lettuce that my husband has termed 'spiny lettuce' and categorically refuses to eat because it stabs him in the mouth. He had a bad experience once. Long story.

Anyway, digressing again. In order to make it more palatable to him, I did change the recipe a little bit. I also didn't have all the ingredients for the original dressing but mine came out great so here it all is...

Warm Winter Salad

Herb Vinaigrette

1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Combine, mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Salad

1 loaf really good Italian or sourdough bread, sliced thickly
3 small Belgian endives, leaves separated
1 bag butter lettuce/radicchio mix
1 bag spring mix greens
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Either in the oven or on a grill pan, toast each slice on both sides until golden brown. I added a smidgen of butter to each side and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper for extra oomph. While that's toasting, get all the lettuces together for a rinsing. Pat dry. Toast the hazelnuts also.

Bad idea.

I thought it'd be a great time saver to just toss the nuts onto the grill pan with the bread. I was wrong. It took forever trying to scoop them up off the pan before they burned. They tasted great but I'd still recommend you toast them in the oven on a cookie sheet. Much easier to handle.

When the bread is done toasting, remove and slice into roughly 1 inch cubes.

Now toss the lettuce onto the hot grill pan. I'm not kidding. I got the idea from that Brewery I visited in Monteray Bay. Although the lettuce won't get the charcoal flavor from a grill pan, it does heat up the lettuce. Only leave the lettuce on the grill pan for two minutes, turning once.

 
Remove lettuce to plates. Top with bread pieces, hazelnuts, bacon and Parmesan cheese.

Stir dressing and pour over the top of each salad. Serve immediately.

YUM!

 If anybody does make this, I'd love to know what you think. Oh, and hubby said this is definitely a 'keep' recipe, despite the weird lettuces. He did really appreciate the omission of the spiny lettuce also.

Panzanella

I am going to begin this blog with my new favorite summer food, Panzanella. It sounds so wonderfully gourmet. Panzanella is an Italian salad made of fresh vegetables and day old bread. It's one of the simplest recipes I've ever made and it's practically fool-proof.  Throwing together this salad for a quick, light dinner after a long day at work is amazing! I've thrown cubes of cooked chicken breast into it to make it a fuller meal. I've also made a HUGE one for a picnic. It's so versatile. Recently, I made it for a little BBQ at my Mama's. Instead of toasting the bread in the oven, we brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper and then lightly grilled it. Heavenly is the only way to describe grilled bread. Alas, I did forget to add the red onion which was a disappointment in flavor but no one else seemed to notice.

On to the recipe:

For the dressing:

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup good olive oil
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Whisk vigorously. (oops. too vigorous. The counter is well marinated now.)
Set this aside.

Salad:

2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
2 bell peppers, peeled and chopped (i like using orange and yellow ones for the colour
6-8 Campari tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, diced
8 oz container of small mozzarella balls, drained
10 good sized fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped or 1 tbsp dried basil

Combine all veggies, mozzarella and basil in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and mix thoroughly. I like to use clean hands to mix it all up. I feel like the dressing always gets distributed more evenly that way. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for at least an hour. Give the flavors some time to get well acquainted. Meanwhile, prepare the bread.

I am not fortunate enough to have the outdoor living space area with which to house a grill. If I did, I would always grill the bread. Since I don't, the oven is the next best thing. I cut the Italian bread into 1 inch cubes and throw them all into a large ziploc bag. In the bag, I also add a 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder and salt and pepper. Toss well. Pour the coated bread onto a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, until the bread is lightly golden. Keeping the bread slightly soft in the middle adds to the yumminess. Let bread cool.

When you are ready to eat, put the bread cubes in the bottom of a bowl or on a plate and scoop the salad over the top. Make sure to pour some of the dressing all over it. Garnish with a sprig of basil and
Voila! Yum!