Baked Goat Cheese Salad with Pears and Walnuts
This salad feels like something you’d order at your favorite wine bar, but you made it at home, with ease. Warm, crisp goat cheese medallions nestle into peppery greens with juicy pears, sweet cherry tomatoes, and crackly walnuts. A quick pan fry makes the cheese crisp and golden in minutes. With a quick red wine vinaigrette and the option to add grilled chicken, it’s balanced, elegant, and fully satisfying.
Servings: Four
INGREDIENTS
1 8-ounce goat cheese log
1/3 cup gluten-free panko breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons avocado oil
1 ripe pear, thinly sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
8 cups mixed salad greens (such as arugula, baby kale, and frisée)
1/2 cup walnut halves
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto (8 slices), optional
Red Wine Vinaigrette
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
PREPARATION
Bread goat cheese: Slice goat cheese into 8 rounds, about 1-inch thick. In a shallow dish, combine gluten-free panko and dried thyme. Press each goat cheese round into the breadcrumb mixture to coat all sides. Arrange on a parchment-lined plate or tray and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
Toast walnuts: Heat a small dry skillet over medium heat. Add walnut halves and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until lightly toasted and fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Make vinaigrette: Whisk together red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt, and pepper until smooth and emulsified.
Cook goat cheese: Heat avocado oil in a stainless steel or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Carefully add the goat cheese rounds and cook for about 2 minutes per side until crisp and deeply golden. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Plate: In a large bowl, toss salad greens, pear, and cherry tomatoes with just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat. Divide salad among 4 plates. Top each with 2 warm goat cheese rounds and, if using, 2 or more slices of prosciutto or grilled chicken. Serve immediately.
Notes:
Flash-freezing the goat cheese makes breading easier and keeps it from melting too fast.
To make this a heartier meal, add 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto or serve with grilled chicken or chicken paillard.
I like using Kikkoman gluten-free panko, but they are a little coarse, so you might want to blitz them in a mini chopper to get a finer crumb.
