Bizarrely, I have always liked goat cheese salad even though I have never been a great fan of goat cheese. I guess it’s that amazing combination of warm goat cheese and honey, cinnamon flavoured pear, pine nuts and beetroot that make me happy with the savour and texture of this dish …. My goat cheese salad is perfect for smart lunch or light supper, however it would also make an excellent starter when cooking for friends.
Just so you know, I created the recipe myself, though I was inspired by several salads I have eaten in various restaurants. The recipe is quick and can be easily adjusted by adding more or less ingredients. I used a honey-mustard-lime juice dressing, yet you may want to substitute it with a good quality virgin olive oil and balsamico. Finally, warm crunchy ciabatta and well chilled white wine, will perfectly accompany this meal.
Satisfying, full of flavours, elegant – enjoy it!
Goat cheese salad with poached pear
Serves 2
You will need:
1 package of mixed baby leaves lettuce
1 cooked beetroot, cut into quarters and sliced
2 radishes, sliced
1 spring onion, sliced
4 large cherry tomatoes, halved
2 logs of soft goat cheese
2 tablespoons of honey
1 handful of pine nuts, toasted
2 small pears
1 small cinnamon stick
zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 glass of white wine
cold water
1 pre baked ciabata bread
For the dressing: This time I didn’t follow a recipe, just mixed some Dijon mustard with honey, lime juice and olive oil, salt and pepper.
Preparation:
If unwashed, clean the lettuce and then divide between two large plates. Add the beetroot, tomatoes, radish and spring onion.
To poach the pears, peal and place in the pan together with white wine, cinnamon stick, lemon zest, sugar. Add cold water to cover the pears. Cook for a few minutes making sure the fruit is soft yet firm at the same time. Avoid overcooking the pears for esthetic reasons.
Arrange the goat cheese in a lightly greased ovenproof dish. Pour over the honey and warm up in a moderate oven. Spoon the dressing over the salad leaves. Arrange the pears in the middle of each plate and finally add the warm goat cheese. To serve, sprinkle the cheese with some toasted pine nuts. This will make a difference to the flavour!
It’s a lovely salad – give it a try 🙂
HI, AsiaJo! Thanks so much for visiting me yesterday. It’s great to meet you and find your fun and tasty place here in blogland–love your recipes! :o) This salad is so beautiful–gotta try. Earlier this week I made a goat cheese pasta–I’ll share the recipe next week. Food is a gift to share. I look forward to stopping by here to see what you’re making. Happy Day!
Hi Tracy, thank you so much for your nice comment – you made my morning a really happy one 🙂 I am planning to bake your apple cake today – will let you know how it all went 🙂 Once again thank you for visiting!
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by ‘my table’! The chocolate brownie/cake is really tasty! It must be karma, because I was just looking for a good salad for dinner tomorrow night, and with one click on you name, there it is!!
I really love you blog, and recipe choices–and the pictures are GREAT, too!
Looking forward to our salad tomorrow night!
Hi Annelle, thank you for re-visit 🙂 I am pleased to hear you like my blog and want to try out the goat cheese salad. Please let me know if you liked it! Have a wonderful day – it’s Friday!!! – it’s w-end:)
Love the picture..so very colourful. Thanks for hopping by my blog 🙂
YUM!! Great, great flavors! I made a viniagrette from the liquid of dried cranberries soaked in spiced rum and added a few of the drunken cranberries to the salad, too. It was all so good!! Thank you!
Wow Annelle – fantastic – I love your addition of cranberries soaked in rum 🙂 Thanks for trying the recipe! xxx
What a delicious salad! It has all the ingredients that I love plus I make the goat cheese at home out of yoghurt so it is easy! I would have added an extra glass of wine to enjoy while having the salad! Great post! Thanks