Baked Goat Cheese Salad

Baked Goat Cheese adds a delicious element to a green salad. I often order this salad in high end restaurants and wanted to recreate this dish at home. I wanted to make this a little healthier by baking the goat cheese, but you can also pan fry this and get the same crispy results. This starts with a mix of arugula and spring salad mix, a delicious vinaigrette and these crispy baked goat cheese rounds. If you have never tried Goat Cheese, you are truly missing out on some extreme deliciousness.

Slice goat cheese into rounds discs (approximately 3/4 inch thick) . You can also use dental floss to slice the goat cheese. It is less messy this way, which I found out after starting with a knife. Roll each disc into a round golf ball size. Roll cheese into chopped chives.

This is what the cheese looks like before it is dipped into crumb mixture. I like to use a mixture of seasoned bread crumbs mixed with Panko crumbs, but rather you combine the bread crumbs, or use one type, this will be very tasty.

Toasted Hazelnuts and the herbed goat cheese taste amazing together. I like to dress this salad with a bright citrus vinagrette, but this works well with any vinaigrette, especially balsamic.

Ingredients

8 oz log of fresh goat cheese

1/2  cup chopped chives

1/2 herb bread crumbs

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

6 cups spring lettuce mix

1 cup Arugula

2 Tablespoons toasted Hazlenuts

Vinaigrette

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Cut goat cheese into 8 discs. Roll into balls and dip into chopped chives. Mix the two bread crumbs and place into a bowl.  Roll the cheese into the bread crumbs. You can also lightly brush the balls with olive oil to get the crumbs to coat the cheese better.  Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass and place the goat cheese rounds in freezer to set for 30 minutes.

While the cheese is setting in the freezer. Preheat oven to 375.  Wash salad greens and tear into bite size pieces.  Toast the hazlenuts until they are golden brown (about 5 minutes).

In a medium bowl, whisk all of the vinaigrette ingredients together. Place goat cheese in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Flip halfway through cooking so that both sides are crispy and golden brown.

Toss salad and sprinkle with toasted hazlenuts and top with 2-3 rounds of goat cheese.

Bon Appetit!