Harvest Salad with Fried Goat Cheese

This harvest salad with fried goat cheese is a salad to not scroll past. It is filled with flavor from the apple cider vinaigrette dressing to the warm crunchy gooey goat cheese. This recipe will WOW you & everyone you serve it to!

this recipe

Let me just say it takes a lot for me to get excited about a salad, but I am amped up about this one. I ate it for lunch the last two days and I was beyond impressed with the recipe. I'm not one to brag, but I believe I created a masterpiece here. It is so yummy, you have got to try this!

We go to this casual little seafood restaurant on the lake near us all the time and they have a beet and arugula salad with these little fried goat cheese gems on it. It has been my favorite salad for years, but I never thought of trying to recreate the fried goat cheese at home. To my surprise, it was actually way easier than I thought and I can't wait to share this method with you!

If you are looking for more lunch ideas, check out these recipes:

Chicken Salad with Croissants

Greek Cucumber Salad

Ground Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients for Harvest Salad with Goat Cheese:

For the Salad:

• 2 large handfuls of Spring Mix lettuce (about half of a 5 ounce container)
• ½ cup of quinoa, uncooked + 1 cup of water to cook it
• ½ of a sweet apple (Gala, Honeycrisp, etc.)
• 4 tablespoons of pomegranate arils
• 2 tablespoons of glazed walnuts (or pecans) *these are those fancy sweet ones near the cheeses
• 4 ounces of goat cheese, cut into 1 ounce slices
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• You will also need a medium to large sized skillet to fry the goat cheese

For the Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing:

• ½ teaspoon of garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon of shallot, minced
• ⅛ cup + 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

How to Make a Harvest Salad with Fried Goat Cheese:

First, cook the quinoa. I used my rice cooker, but you can also do it on the stovetop. While it's cooking, start the next steps.

Let's start making the apple vinaigrette dressing:

Start by mincing up the shallot and garlic. It is a really small amount needed and we want to keep it that way. I'm not a fan of garlic and shallot over powering my dressings.

Next, add all of the apple cider vinaigrette ingredients, including the shallot and garlic into your food processor and blend until mixed smooth. It should look like this:

Place the salad dressing into the fridge until it's time to assemble the salad.

Time to fry our goat cheese:

Cut your goat cheese log into 4 equal parts horizontally. They will each look like little discs.

Next, you will need 3 small bowls.

Bowl 1: mix together the flour, salt and pepper

Bowl 2: whisk an egg

Bowl 3: pour the Panko bread crumbs in

Gently take one goat cheese disc and dredge it in the flour mixture, then the egg, and last the panko bowl. Really roll it in there and take your time to get the goat cheese completely coated it in each layer. Complete all four cheese bites.

Place the saucepan on a little over medium heat (see photo below) and fill it with the vegetable oil. If you know your oven runs hot, turn this down a bit. Allow the oil to heat up for a few minutes. I have a gas stove, so mine is ready a little faster than with an electric stovetop.

Cooking Tip: I like to test my oil by using tongs and just dipping the side of the goat cheese in to see how the oil is going to react. If it starts bubbling and sizzling, that is what I want. If it does hardly anything, wait a few minutes and/or turn up the heat. If the oil starts to go wild and shoot at you, way too hot-turn it down. Fry each side for about 2 minutes or until golden brown.

Sit these little delicious cheese bites aside and..

Let's assemble the salad:

First, slice the apples into very thin slices. I like to use the mandoline for this, so they almost appear shaved.

Start assembling your salad by laying down the spring mix. Toss in the amount of dressing you would like. Plop a large spoonful of warm quinoa in the middle of the greens.

Next, arrange the apples. Sprinkle in the walnuts and pomegranate arils.

Finish by laying two goat cheese bites on each salad. Oh my deliciousness! Be sure to have someone to share it with, because it is something to be proud of!

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