Warm Goat Cheese Salad with a Lemony Vinaigrette
In Provence, goats and sheep grazing in local fields is a common sight. During spring and fall, it is not unusual to cross a shepherd’s path with his herd (troupeau) and herding dogs. So, not surprisingly it’s easy to find goat cheese in local markets, and grocery stores. I prefer my goat cheese frais (fresh, not aged), as the cheese ages it gets shall we say a bit more “goaty” in both taste and smell.
Read: Witnessing the Magic of the Transhumance in Provence
Warm goat cheese salad or salade de chevre chaude appears on many restaurant menus, and it’s easy to recreate just follow the recipe below.
Chevre Chaud Salade with Lemon Vinaigrette
This salad is easy to prepare. Toast the pine nuts and make the dressing in advance so the final steps are just before serving.
Ingredients
- 1 package Goat's cheese (in a roll if available)
- 8 slices baguette
- 6 cups colourful mixed salad recommend arugula or mesclun mix
- 3 oz pine nuts
- 6 oz Cherry Tomatoes cut in half
- 1 Avocado if available (sliced and diced)
For The Dressing:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Zest from one lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pan-fry the pine nuts on medium heat until golden brown (approx. 1.5 to 2 minutes).
- Slice the roll of goat cheese (2 pieces/serving) and cut the baguette.
- Place a slice of goat cheese on top of each of the slices of bread.
- Broil in the oven in approx. 5 minutes until golden brown.
- Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking all the ingredients and then adding the olive oil last and slowly as you whisk the vinaigrette to an emulsion.
- If avocados are in season, slice and dice one right before you are assembling the salads.
For Serving:
- Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving.
- Place on a plate, and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and sliced cherry tomatoes and avocado slices.
- Top with the warm goat cheese baguette slices (2 per serving)
Notes
Note: Pine nuts are delicate – keep your eye on them will you are pan roasting them so they don’t burn. If they are not available, toast some almond slivers as an alternative. Also, pine nuts can be very expensive in certain parts of the world so toasted almonds will also work with this recipe.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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