Strawberry Goat Cheese Salad

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Strawberries: Look for smaller berries because they taste sweeter. Hull them with a paring knife to remove the stems. Then slice them in half, and if you do happen to end up with larger berries, quarter them.
• Goat cheese: I use two 4-ounce goat cheese logs. Then I can easily roll them into the chopped pistachios and slice them into rounds.
• Pistachios are my favorite nuts for this salad. Use salted, lightly salted or unsalted shelled roasted pistachios. You can substitute with walnuts, almonds or pecans or even include a mix if you’re trying to clean out your pantry.
• Avocado: I love creamy ripe avocados in salads. Here their mellow rich flavor matches up well with tangy goat cheese, sweet fruit and greens.
• Red onions pop in the best way possible. Just thinly slice them and mix them with the greens and everything else.
• Baby kale is more delicate than mature kale. You can substitute with baby spinach, arugula or a spring mix for the lettuce
• Chives are the herby version of onions. Even though there are already red onions in the salad, I still like adding chives.
• Honey balsamic vinaigrette: Keeping with the savory and a touch of sweet theme, I make the dressing with garlic, honey, mustard, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

How To Make This Strawberry Goat Cheese Salad

This is what you need for the salad recipe:

1. Cover the goat cheese with pistachios. Spread the nuts into a single layer on a dinner plate. Roll the logs in the nuts while gently pressing down. Slice the logs 1/4-inch wide. Then press the cut sides into the nuts, so they are fully crusted.

2. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, honey, mustard, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and oil.

3. Combine the ingredients in a large salad bowl including the kale, strawberries, avocados, red onions, remaining pistachios and chives.

4. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad and toss to combine. Spoon the salad onto serving plates or into bowls and top with pistachio-crusted goat cheese.

Serving

I love this recipe for a spring – summer salad for lunch or dinner. It definitely eats like a main dish salad with all the berries, goat cheese and nuts. If you want to add protein to this vegetarian salad, try chicken, shrimp or tofu.

Leftovers & Storage

If you know you’re not going to serve and eat the entire salad in one meal, do not toss everything in the dressing. Store the salad, vinaigrette and goat cheese rounds in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator up to 2 days. A mason jar is handy for salad dressing.

Let the dressing sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes before whisking it, assuming that the oil will solidify in the chill of the fridge. You can also run the jar with the dressing under warm water and shake it so leftovers ready faster.

Recipe Tips

Make sure the goat cheese is cold. Take it out of the fridge right before you are about to roll it into the pistachios. If you do find that the cheese is too warm and sticky, put it in the refrigerator for 5 minutes and check on it again.

There will be some crumbling when you slice the goat cheese log. That’s just how the consistency of goat cheese is, but use your hands to shape it and press it back together as needed.

Don’t cut the avocado too early or it will brown. This doesn’t effect the taste. It’s more about the look. The same goes for leftovers. The avocados will brown the longer you store the salad.

You can make the vinaigrette up to 2 days in advance. Store it in a jar in the fridge. Take it out 15 minutes before you’re planning to use it and stir it around.