Adventures with Goat Cheese

Tonight we had a delicious salad/bread combo that I had to recommend. We are very fond of dinner salads and tonight was no exception. We tossed fresh spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, shaved red onion, and avocado together. No big deal right...just another everyday salad...oh no my friends...that wasn't the end of it. The first batch of pomegranates showed up at our local grocery store last week so we added pomegranate seeds. I am not really a fan of pomegranate juice, but I really love how fresh pomegranate seeds burst in your mouth with a sweet, yet tart, almost grapefruit taste. We then added marinated and grilled (thank you George Foreman) skirt steak that was thinly cut against the grain of the meat (please ladies and gentlemen...cut your skirt steak against the natural grain of the steak). We then topped it off with goat cheese crumbles. It was delicious. Sweet, savory, tart from the cheese and pomegranate seeds, creamy avocado contrasted with crunchy cucumber...oh yum! We dressed it with a modified version of Matt's mom's balsamic dressing (balsamic vinegar, sugar, olive oil, a touch of mustard, and an ice cube shaken together). It was a perfectly sweet and tart addition to the salad.

We also served it with one of my favorite little treats. We rather enjoy Panera's baguette bread. It is perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside and the cell distribution of the bread is amazing. It is a perfect mixture of large and small air pockets which is important to the baking and tasting process. We cut the bread, slather it with goat cheese (the spreadable kind like Chaverie works best for this), and top it with shaved red onion. Put it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, top with cracked black pepper and if you desire, a drizzle of olive oil and consume. So delicious, so simple, I am so going back into the kitchen for more.

Enjoy!