Garden Salad with Fried Goat Cheese

Summer is in full swing and so are all the fabulous gardens in my neck of the woods. I’m pretty sure the gardens are in full bloom in your neck of the woods too, so I vote we take advantage of all the amazing produce summer has to offer and make a crazy awesome salad with fried goat cheese on top! Whatcha think? Let’s get into it!

The last few months I’ve been all up and down the west coast and been privileged enough to see some fabulous community gardens in various cities. I’ve teamed up with Scotts Miracle Gro to make this garden inspired salad and to learn all about this new initiative of theirs called GRO1000.

Basically they’ve committed to developing community gardens throughout the country and are on their way to creating 1,000 community gardens and green spaces within the next few years. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a pretty wonderful goal for such a prominent company!

Not only are they providing grants to hundreds of communities, but they are educating youth and promoting sustainability in our communities, something that has been super important to me, especially since returning from Alaska and learning about all the sustainable things going on up north. Pretty awesome, huh? I knew you’d agree.

So with all this garden and green space inspiration all around the country, I created a recipe with some of the produce you could find in some of these gardens right this very moment. Arugula, summer squash, peaches, and summer tomatoes all toss together with a garlic balsamic vinaigrette and topped with a few rounds of fried goat cheese to give it even more pizazz. So let’s make this salad, and feel free to check out some of the links above if you want to learn even more about GRO1000 or how to get involved!

I’ve resolved to try to not kill my garden this year (I need to remember to water it) and try to grow at least a full herb garden so at the very least, I can be self sufficient when it comes to harvesting basil, mint, tarragon etc! Keep your fingers crossed for me

Garden Salad with Fried Goat Cheese

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Course Salad

Cuisine Mediterranean

Ingredients

  

For the Salad

• 2 handfuls wild arugula
• 1 ripe yellow peach cut into slices
• 1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes quartered
• 1 yellow squash shaved into ribbons
• 1 green zucchini shaved into ribbons

For the Fried Goat Cheese

• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• ¼ cup vegetable oil

For the Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

For the Salad

• Pile the arugula, peaches, tomatoes and summer squash into a large bowl.

For the Fried Goat Cheese

• Cut a small log of goat cheese into pieces, about 2 tablespoons each. Roll the piece of goat cheese into a ball and gently mold into a disk shape. Repeat this process for the remaining goat cheese and set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg and set aside.
• Place the bread crumbs into another small bowl.
• Dip each piece of goat cheese in the egg and then into the bread crumb mixture.
• Using your fingers, make sure the bread crumbs are firmly into the goat cheese and set aside.
• Heat the grapeseed oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Lightly fry the goat cheese rounds for about a minute on each side until they are golden brown and are just slightly melted on either side but still retain their shape. Remove from oil and set aside on a paper towel to dry.

For the Balsamic Vinaigrette

• Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic until combined. Season with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to serve.
• Toss the salad with the vinaigrette and place the goat cheese rounds on top to serve.