Sweet and Savory: Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese and Toasted Almond

This salad is sweet and savory and hits the spot every time. Served it at a family get together tonight and it was gobbled up.

Ingredients:

1. 6 cups of mixed greens (or arugula)
2. 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
3. 1 cup avocado cubed
4. 1-2 cups of strawberries washed, dried and quartered
5. 4-6 ounces of goat cheese crumbled
6. 1/3 cup slivered almonds pan toasted

Dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons of berry preserves (I used Sarabeth's mixed berry)
Mixed in a bowl and well mixed

In a small hot skillet, toast your almonds on small flame till golden. Set aside.

Wash and dry greens. Add onion, avocado and strawberries. Add dressing, mix well. Top with goat cheese and almonds.

Enjoy!

Arugula Salad w Strawberries, Blueberries, Toasted Almonds, Goat Cheese and Seared Chicken Breast

INGREDIENTS:

FOR CHICKEN
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Grape Oil

FOR SALAD
3 cups arugula (washed and spun dried)
1 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 container soft goat cheese (my favorite brand for salad is Chavrie)
2 tbsp aged balsamic
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup wheat berries (optional)

To prepare the chicken breast, I use LeCreuset's Grill Pan. This is the one that I have : http://www.amazon.com/Le-Creuset-Square-Skillet-Grill/dp/B00004SBI4  Wash and dry chicken. Heat pan, add oil. Cook chicken till cooked through. About 5-7 minutes per side depending on thickness. Add a splash of soy sauce towards the end.  Cool and slice. 

For wheat berries (if using) 
Note that wheat berries are not berries but a legume which means they do need to be soaked overnight. Totally optional in the salad but do give it a nice texture.

1 cup wheat berries
2 to 2 1/2 cups of water
Note that this will make more wheatberries that you need for the salad but these are good to have on hand for other salads or make a nice hearty breakfast.

Rinse the wheat berries well with cold water. 
Place in bowl filled with cold water and let soak overnight.
Rinse and drain the water.
Place in pan with water, bring to boil.
Cover and let simmer for an 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs till tender and chewy.


For salad:

Wash and spin dry arugula. Wash, dry and slice strawberries. Wash blueberries.
Thinly slice red onions. Combine the above ingredients in a large bowl.

For dressing, combine balsamic, lemon juice, olive oil. Mix well, add honey and dijon. Mix again. 

In a small, preheated skillet, toast almonds till light brown. About a minute per side.

Dress salad. Top with chicken, scoops of goat cheese and toasted almonds. Serve and enjoy.

Peach and Goat Cheese Salad

Had lots of peaches due to miscommunication w husband. He bought some and so did I.

Decided to use them  in salad. Google to the rescue and I came across this awesome recipe from the Farm House Table which I promptly added to my Pinterest of course :)

Here is the original recipe http://farmhousetable.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/grilled-peach-salad-with-buffalo-mozzarella-and-arugula/ which I followed somewhat loosely.

Here is what my final product looked like. I must say it was very good.

I used romaine instead of arugula--no arugula available at the moment.
Had sliced fennel so I added that.
Had wheatberries which I love and cooked a few days before--added a bit of those.
Had no chives, heavy cream or creme fraiche.
Used goat cheese (my fave) instead of mozarella.

My ingredients that I used:

1. Romaine lettuce (about 2 cups per person). Washed and dried in salad spinner.
2. 3 peaches (enough to serve 2)
3. 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
4. 1/2 container of goat cheese
5. 3 table spoons of toasted pine nuts
6. 1 table spoon honey
7. 1 table spoon extra virgin olive oil
8. 2 table spoons of red wine vinegar

Wash and dry peaches, cut into quarters or half. Spray pan w Pam or the like. I use canola oil spray by Spectrum. Roast at about 400 till soft. I used my toaster oven as it was too hot outside to run the oven.

Wash lettuce, dry, set aside. Add thinly sliced fennel (wash first) and thinly sliced red onions.

Add to lettuce. Add wheat berries (if you have). I cooked them according to package direction.

Whisk ingredients 6 to 8 in small bowl to  make dressing.

Toast pine nuts on skillet.

Once peaches are cooked, toss salad w dressing. Top w peaches, pine nuts and goat cheese.

Enjoy!

Salad of warm figs w goat cheese and balsamic glaze

One of my recent creations: a salad of warm figs (in season and delish right now) w goat cheese

Ingredients:

1)  Arugula (washed and dried, I use a salad spinner)

2)  Large figs (6-8)

3) Goat Cheese (I like the soft kind), about 2 table spoons per serving

4) 1/4 cup of pine nuts 

5) 1/4 of thinly sliced red onion (or more if you like)

6) 1 table spoon extra virgin olive oil

7) 2 tablespoon of aged balsamic

8) 1 teaspoon of berry preserves

9) Balsamic glaze for decoration

Wash and dry figs, slice in half, warm in over or toaster over on an oiled tray for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, wash and try arugula.

Slice red onions thinly.

Heat small skilled and toast pine nuts, careful not to burn.

For dressing, mix ingredients 6-8. 

Once figs are ready, toss arugula and red onions w dressing. You don't want to leave the dressing on too long b/c arugula is delicate and gets mushy. Plate and top w pine nuts. 

Add warm figs, top w a 1/2 spoon or so of goat cheese. Top figs w balsamic glaze (store bought), if you don't have it, can use some of the dressing for this.

Enjoy!