Spring Veg and Goat Cheese

I love goat cheese...especially the fresh variety.  My favorite is definately Donnay Dairy Chevre, because it is a local brand, produced in MN, and it has a wonderful tangy flavor, never goaty.  I use it in everything from desserts to savory applications, such as crumbled over a salad.  It pairs well with many things, and nuts are one of them.  I was thinking some goat cheese sounded good the other day, and I decided to coat it in some toasted almonds and serve it with a salad to add some protein to it. For the salad, I was feeling like something springish, and so I raided my fridge and saw what I could find in there to compose it.  some radishes, snap peas, and carrots, as well as some baby spinach!  Very springy, and for some extra adornment I threw on some dried cherries!  I wanted some light and bright flavored dressing, so I opted for a lemon vinaigrette...which turned out to be a good descision.  The salad was everything I was hungry for that day...lots of veg, with the richness of goat cheese and almonds alongside!  A nice light salad to accompany a main dish protein. 

Lemon Dressed Spring Vegetable Salad with Almond Crusted Goat Cheese


1/2 cup fresh soft goat cheese
1 small garlic clove, minced
zest of one lemon
1 cup toasted sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
a good pinch of sea salt

dressing:
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp honey
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Salad:
3 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup carrots, sliced into ribbons, using a vegetable peeler, or cut julienne
1/2 cup radishes, thinly sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas
1/4 cup dried unsweetened cherries
In a bowl, combine goat cheese, garlic and lemon zest and mix until well combined. Roll the goat cheese into 6 balls. In a bowl, mix together almonds and sea salt. Roll goat cheese balls in the almonds until toasted and set aside in the fridge. To make salad, in a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. In a large bowl, combine spinach, carrots, radishes, snap peas, and cherries. Pour dressing over, and toss to combine until all vegetables are coated. Divide salad between two plates, and top each with 3 goat cheese balls.