Kale Caesar Salad with Grilled Goat Cheese

Kale is everywhere. It's hearty. It's good for you. I seem to get it in my CSA every week. I do love kale, but sometimes it starts to be a little much. You need to do something different with it. Hence taking a caesar dressing and using raw kale leaves. And since I was by myself, I got to put a bunch of goat cheese on it. Though I mentioned in the tapenade recipe about using Thai fish sauce as a replacement for anchovies, I learned it first when making this. I made it for one as an entree, but it could easily work for two as a salad course.

Kale Caesar Salad with Grilled Goat Cheese:

(Caesar Dressing modified via 1,000 Mexican Recipes)

Serves 1

Dressing-

½ c. olive oil

2 Tb. red wine vinegar

1 Tb. lemon juice

2 Tb. Thai fish sauce

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

¼ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

½ tsp. freshly ground pepper, or to taste

2 slices hearty Italian bread (like ciabatta), cut into chunks

2 Tb. olive oil

2 tsp. dried herbs (oregano, basil)

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Large handful torn kale leaves

3 oz. chevre, divided

1 egg, beaten

¼ c. panko

Olive oil

Make the croutons first. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss bread cubes in olive oil, herbs, and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

Make the dressing by placing the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, Thai fish sauce, garlic, and mustard in a food processor. Pulse until thoroughly combined. Add the Parmesan and black pepper. Blend until creamy and smooth. This make enough for a few salads, but I love caesar dressing so much I needed to make it all. It keeps well for up to 3 days, so just go for it.

Cut the chevre into 1 ounce chunks. Place chunks in egg to coat, then roll them in the panko. Heat a pan over medium heat until oil is shimmering. Add the coated goat cheese and cook until bottom side is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn over and cook until golden, about 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

Dress kale, toss throughly, and top with goat cheese and croutons.

Tangy, crunchy goat cheese and earthy kale are a fantastic combo, especially with the zip from the caesar dressing. I might be able to eat this every week.

30 Before 30: Pretty Beets and Carrots (#21)

Beets are wearing me out. I love them, but I've gotten so many through my CSA, I'm not sure how many more I can eat. Fortunately I found another recipe to deal with them and it is pretty darn delicious. It works in the place of slaw as well as salad, so feel free to throw it on a sandwich. Just drain it a bit first or you may end up with purple hands. I skipped the lettuce and the arrangement and just mixed it all together.

Pretty Beets and Carrots via Moosewood Restaurant New Classics:

Serves 4

1 large red beet, peeled

1 large carrot, peeled

1 walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger root

2 Tb. vegetable oil

3 Tb. cider vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

¼ c. minced scallions

6 green or red lettuce leaves (optional)

Coarsely grate the beet and then the carrot to yield about 1½ cups of each. Place in separate bowls and set aside.

Grate the ginger finely and combine it with the oil, vinegar, and garlic. Toss the beets in half the dressing and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix together the scallions, carrots, and the remaining dressing. Add salt and pepper, if you like.

Arrange the lettuce on a platter, mound the carrot mixture in the center, and spoon the beets around it. Or just mix it all up. Depends on how you want to present it, really.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

I love the faux pickled flavor of this dish and how quickly you can create it, especially if you have a grater attachment for a food processor.

Recipes Complete: 21

Recipes to Go: 9

Balsamic Vinaigrette with Grilled Salad

I love salad and I eat it all the time. It got a lot easier when Aaron discovered how much he loves balsamic. As much as I love salad, I do basically the same thing every time. I decided to go slightly out of the box with this one and make a dressing and grill some veggies.

Balsamic Vinaigrette with Grilled Salad:

For the vinaigrette-

¼ c. balsamic

2 garlic cloves, minced

10 small sprigs lemon thyme

Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

Juice for ½ lemon

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

For the salad-

Arugula

Lettuce (romaine, butter, red leaf)

Broccoli

Carrots

Green onion

Peppers

To make the vinaigrette, mix all of the ingredients together until well blended. Set aside.

For the salad, grill the broccoli, carrots, green onion, and peppers until slightly charred. Add the grilled veggies to a salad bowl with arugula and lettuce. Toss in vinaigrette. I added goat cheese and cherry tomatoes to mine.

It’s a quick and easy way to jazz up your salad.