Baked Goat Cheese Salad
Impress your guests with Jo’s bold-flavored, restaurant-style salad. The caramelized onions and strawberries add sweetness and depth to the tangy goat cheese and sharp citrusy dressing.
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Nutritional Bonus: Goat cheese is naturally lower in fat than many other cheeses, such as full-fat cheddar, and makes this salad satisfying and elegant. It contains 6 grams of fat per 1-ounce serving while cheddar contains 9 grams. Goat cheese also has less saturated fat than cheddar with 4 grams compared to 6 grams.
Ingredients
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 2 large Spanish onions, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup whole-wheat panko bread crumbs
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 egg whites
- 4 oz chèvre or spreadable goat cheese
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp chopped raw unsalted pecans
- 12 cups baby arugula
- 2 cups thinly sliced strawberries
Preparation
- Caramelize onions: Heat a large nonstick skillet on medium-high and lightly mist with cooking spray. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. (NOTE: Skillet will be quite full to start, but onions shrink as they cook.) Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, sticky and light caramel in color, about 1 hour. Remove from heat, transfer to a large plate and let cool at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425°F. In a medium bowl, combine panko, thyme, salt and pepper. In a separate medium bowl, lightly beat egg whites; set aside. With your hands, gently press goat cheese into 4 1-oz balls and flatten each into 1/2-inch-thick patties. Dip patties in egg, turning to coat, then gently press both sides into panko mixture; repeat process to coat each patty twice. Transfer to a small tray, cover loosely with plastic wrap and freeze for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare dressing: In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, Dijon and additional salt and pepper; set aside.
- Line a medium baking sheet with foil and mist with cooking spray. Arrange cheese patties in a single layer on 1 half of sheet and mist tops with cooking spray. Bake for 6 minutes. Flip patties and bake for 6 more minutes, until golden. Turn oven heat off and remove sheet from oven. Add pecans to remaining half of sheet. Return to oven until pecans are warm, about 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine arugula, strawberries and dressing. Toss gently to coat and divide among serving plates. Top with onions, pecans and cheese patties, dividing evenly.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 3 cups arugula-onion mixture and 1 cheese patty
- Calories 252
- Carbohydrate Content 27 g
- Cholesterol Content 13 mg
- Fat Content 11 g
- Fiber Content 6 g
- Protein Content 14 g
- Saturated Fat Content 5 g
- Sodium Content 284 mg
- Sugar Content 9 g
- Monounsaturated Fat Content 0 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat Content 0 g