Sweet Pecan Salad with Warm Baked Goat cheese

This is the perfect summer salad, and I've taken it up a notch to make it the perfect autumn or winter salad by crusting and then baking the goat cheese as a salad topper. Sometimes I find the strawberries and blueberries perfectly ripe, and they don't need any sweetening at all. Other times (When the berries aren't quite in season) I find that a simply dusting of Splenda or sugar over the berries is exactly what they need to bring our their sweetness.

The first time I made this salad, it was without the goat cheese, and Kyle thought it was the best salad he had ever had. His only critique was that perhaps it needed a touch of salt. The second time I made this salad, I used goat cheese and added a touch of salt to the crust. It was heaven. I hope you enjoy this salad as much as my family does!

Salad Ingredients

Baby spinach (or lettuce of your choice)
1/2 cup of blueberries
1/2 cup of strawberries hulled and chopped
1 Pear (Peeled and roughly chopped)

Wash lettuce and berries, and assemble to create the base of the salad.

Pecan Ingredients
1/2 cup of pecans

1/4 cup of honey
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of butter
Dash of cayenne (optional)

In a non stick skillet or pan, over medium high heat melt the butter and then add the brown sugar. Add pecans and saute for a few minutes to start warming through. Pour the honey over top, and stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and once everything in the pan has coated the pecans add the pears and saute quickly. Remove from heat and dump contents onto a wax paper covered dish. Set aside until cooled.

Balsamic Salad Dressing

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix together and chill until ready to top salad.

Goat Cheese Ingredients

One log of soft goat cheese

Olive oil

1/2 cup of bread crumbs (I use Italien)

Salt

Dash of pepper
1 teaspoon of Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic

1 teaspoon  of thyme

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Start by cutting the goat cheese into 1 inch thick pucks. In a small bowl add enough olive oil that the disks can be coated (A few tablespoons). Add a thyme, and a good amount of pepper to the oil. Put disks in the oil and turn to coat both sides. Put in refrigerator to marinade (The longer the better, but a few minutes are fine).

Mix together the bread crumbs and teaspoon of Parmesan onto a plate, very sparingly add the tiniest dash of salt to the crumb mixture.

Take the goat cheese pucks out of the refrigerator and turn to coat the goat cheese in the breadcrumb mixture. Bake on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper) 6-8 minutes, or until warmed through and soft when you press gently in the center.

Be careful, they are extremely hot when they come out of the oven. Use a spatula to gently lift them on top of the salad. Serve immediately.

Top the salad with the pecans, and goat cheese and finally the dressing. And VOILA!