Grilled Goat Cheese Salad with Honey White Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is a perfect salad for entertaining, and it truly is not that hard to whip together. For starters, the base is butter lettuce (which lasts for weeks in the fridge), and it’s topped with chopped dates, sliced gooseberries, store-bought candied pecans, a simple honey white balsamic vinaigrette, and gluten-free breaded grilled goat cheese slices that makes this salad go to the next level.

The grilled goat cheese gets breaded in gluten-free breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs!) and gets toasted on both sides on a skillet and it creates the most savory, tangy, and slightly gooey treat to go on top of an already wonderful salad. All of the ingredients can be prepped ahead of time, including the goat cheese. For the goat cheese, just simply go through the breading process and place the un-grilled goat cheese in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to use them. Once you are ready, simply just grill them in your skillet and top on your salads. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Salad

• 9 oz of butter lettuce

• 3/4 cup sliced gooseberries

• 3/4 cup chopped dates

• 3/4 cup candied pecans

Grilled Goat Cheese

• 1-10 oz. log of goat cheese, chilled.

• 1 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs (or regular)

• 1 egg

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 tsp thyme

• olive oil for grilling

Honey White Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil (I use Graza)

• 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Method:

1. Slice goat cheese into 16 slices (about 1/2 inch thick). In one bowl, add the breadcrumbs and seasonings. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg. Dip each goat cheese round into the egg, and then into the breadcrumbs until well-coated. Refrigerate for at least 5 minutes before grilling, or you can do this ahead of time and wait to grill your goat cheese until you are ready to serve. Once you are ready to grill, heat a skillet over medium heat with a little olive oil. Fry goat cheese on each side for 1-2 minutes, or until golden.

2. Whisk all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a medium bowl until well combined. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors come together.

3. To plate: butter lettuce, gooseberries, dates, pecans, 1 tbsp of vinaigrette, and 2 rounds of goat cheese per plate. Serve and enjoy!