Minted Goat Cheese Salad Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add beets; return to a boil then reduce heat and cook gently until tender, approximately 15 to 25 minutes. (Miniature beets will take as little as 10 minutes; large beets could take 30 minutes.) Remove pan from heat and allow beets to cool completely in the cooking liquid before draining. (This can take up to one hour, and can also be done up to 1 day in advance - just refrigerate.) Discard the water and slip the beets out of their skins using paper towels to grasp the beets. Trim curly ends, cut beets into wedges; set aside. (Some beets peel more easily than others. Do the peeling over the sink, as it's a messy job. Always slice on a cutting board so as not to stain the countertop.)
• 2. Cut the goat cheese log into disks, about 1/2-inch thick, yielding 8 to 10 rounds. Place the flour on a small plate. Lightly beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine the chopped parsley and breadcrumbs. Line up the three plates next to each other. Dip each goat cheese round first in the flour, turning to coat, then in the egg, then in the bread crumbs.
• 3. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. (a nonstick skillet is best for ease in clean-up.) Add the breaded goat cheese rounds and lightly brown both sides. Use tongs to carefully flip rounds. Drain on paper towels.
• 4. Warm the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the beets and cook 3 minutes, stirring to coat. Stir in mint, then lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• 5. To serve: Place salad greens on plates, top with several wedges of beets and 1 or 2 rounds of warm goat cheese. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

Steps:

• To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients. Set aside.
• To make the salad, cut the cheese into 4 slices. Place the mint on a plate and roll the slices in it until thoroughly coated. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine any remaining chopped mint with the lettuce and tomatoes. Add the vinaigrette and toss. Divide the salad among 4 plates and top each with a slice of minted cheese. Serve with toasted bread.

Steps:

• Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the olive oil over the slices of eggplant and toss to coat. Grill the eggplants until tender and grill marks appear, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Place the eggplants side-by-side on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the pine nuts, goat cheese, basil, and mint. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
• Cook's note: Plating the eggplant salad this way allowed the cheese to stay bright white. The salt and pepper showed up on it. The herbs remained green and fluffy. The grill marks on the eggplant were distinct.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add farro and bay leaves and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add orzo to the pot and continue to simmer until farro and pasta are cooked through but still al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes longer.
• While farro is cooking, prepare the dressing: Finely grate zest from the lemons, and place zest in a large bowl. Squeeze juice from 1 1/2 lemons and add to zest along with salt, pepper and red-pepper flakes, whisking to combine. Gradually whisk in oil. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice from the other lemon half, or both, if needed.
• Drain farro-pasta mixture, discarding bay leaves. Add to bowl with dressing and toss well. Stir in apricots. Let farro and pasta cool, soaking up the dressing. This can be done up to 1 day in advance. Store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before proceeding.
• In a small bowl, combine onions, celery, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and a large pinch of salt. Let sit while the pasta cools, at least 20 minutes.
• Just before serving, add onion mixture and almonds to the bowl with the farro and pasta and toss well. Gently fold in spinach, goat cheese, mint and parsley. Taste and add more lemon, red-pepper flakes or salt if needed.
• Drizzle with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper before serving.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add peas; cook, uncovered, 2-3 minutes or just until crisp-tender. Drain and immediately place in ice water. Drain and pat dry. Cut in half crosswise; place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with goat cheese., In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients. Pour over pea mixture; toss to coat.

Steps:

• Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
• In a large bowl, gently toss spring mix and watermelon together with vinaigrette.
• Top with goat cheese and hazelnuts to serve.