at the Water's Edge


Living life and learning all I can along the way!
Fried Goat Cheese Spring Salad

Fried Goat Cheese Spring Salad

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Tonight's dinner truly sprang from a desire to use up the rest of a goat cheese log that I had. After some perusing on Pinterest, I found this recipe for Crispy Fried Goat Cheese and thought it sounded delicious! Then, I realized that I had recently had this sort of fried goat cheese, and it was on a salad at Leo's restaurant in Grand Rapids. It was delicious there and I thought I could probably replicate something similar at home. The recipe I came up with includes fried goat cheese, alongside grilled chicken, candied walnuts, apples, blueberries and onions over a bed of fresh arugula. Below are the details!




Ingredients:
  • Arugula or mixed baby salad greens
  • 1 chicken breast
  • 4 oz goat cheese (in log form)
  • 1 small apple (I used Fuji), very thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/8 of a sweet onion, finely sliced
  • 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup walnut halves or pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 lemon
  • flour
  • white wine vinegar
  • salt
  • pepper
  • garlic powder
  • dried basil
  • olive oil

 Directions:
Place chicken in a bowl and drizzle olive oil over top. Squeeze out the juice of 1/2 of a lemon. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and basil to taste and marinate chicken for 20-30 minutes.  Fire up the grill and grill chicken until no longer pink in the center. While the chicken is cooking, make your candied walnuts and fried goat cheese. 

For the walnuts, melt butter in a skillet and add walnuts. Add sugar and a few dashes of salt. Stir frequently until walnuts are well coated and begin to brown. set aside.

I altered the fried cheese recipe I found ever so slightly (use her recipe for more precise details!). Place Panko bread crumbs in a bowl and season to taste with garlic, salt, pepper and basil. Place about 1/2 cup of flour in another bowl. In a third bowl, beat one egg. Slice the cheese log into about 1/3 - 1/2 inch wide rounds. Dredge each piece in flour, then in the egg, then in the bread crumb mixture. Set aside on wax paper. Heat a skillet and cover the bottom with a thin layer of olive oil. Add the cheese rounds to the pan and brown on each side, carefully turning each over. Set aside. 

Once chicken is cooked, remove from grill. Let cool slightly, then slice into pieces. Place a bed of arugula on a plate and sprinkle with blueberries and walnuts. Add apple slices and chicken slices over top. Place goat cheese rounds on top of salad. As a simple dressing, drizzle olive oil, remaining half of lemon juice and just a bit of white wine vinegar over top. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and basil. Enjoy!

This made a perfect dinner for the warmest day of the year. So far. It's only March, but it reached the low 60s today and we took the chance to eat these salads outside on our back deck! 

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ABOUTME

Hi there! My name is Dana and I live in West Michigan with my husband, Tom and our dog Copernicus. I created this space as a place to share the things I learn along this journey I call life. I work in marketing and I'm a sort of Jane of All Trades, interested in all things nature, gardening, cooking, exploring and learning new things. This blog is a conglomeration of my interests, hobbies, life and life lessons. Thanks for stopping by!

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