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Spinach Salad with Sesame-Crusted Goat Cheese

Spinach Salad with Sesame-Crusted Goat Cheese


  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the Dressing:

  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

For the Goat Cheese:

  • 8 oz goat cheese, sliced into 1-in-thick rounds**
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½ cup sesame seeds (I used a mixture of white and black)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Salad:

  • 8 cups baby spinach (or other greens of choice)
  • 2 apples, cored and thinly sliced
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • ¼ cup sliced red onion
  • ½ cup toasted sliced almond

Instructions

  1. For the Dressing:
  2. Whisk honey, mustard, vinegar, and oil in the bottom of a large bowl. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Set aside.

For the Goat Cheese:

  1. Heat up olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.
  2. Toss the goat cheese rounds in the flour, then the eggs, and finally the sesame seeds. Make sure the sesame seeds coat the cheese well on all sides.
  3. Add the cheese rounds to the hot skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.

For the Salad:

  1. Meanwhile, toss spinach, apples, cranberries, onions, and almonds with the dressing in the large bowl.
  2. Divide the salad among serving dishes and place 2-3 warm goat cheese rounds on top of each serving of salad.
  3. Serve immediately while the cheese is warm.

NOTE:

  1. I keep the goat cheese in the fridge until the very last second. Sometimes I even slice and coat it ahead, and then take it out just before searing in the pan. This helps keep its shape and prevents it from turning into a gooey mess