Receta Mâche, Fried Goat Cheese, and Strawberry Salad
As soon as it gets hot, I’m all about dinners that can be assembled, rather than cooked.
This might have something to do with the fact that, as I mentioned last week, air conditioning is a rarity in Paris. Spending time over the stovetop or with the oven on is just asking for trouble. But I think it has even more to do with the fact that the produce is just so beautiful this time of year, and I can’t resist stocking up.
I already spend far more at my primeur and co-op than I do at the grocery store, but in the summer, I’m nearly never at the supermarket at all. I may stop by for sponges and dish soap, sure, but everything else comes from market stalls – and when you’ve seen the produce we get here, it’s really not surprising. Not only is it gorgeous… it’s ever-changing.
Take strawberries, for instance. In late May, we get the very first gariguettes, the long, slender strawberries that are my personal favorite. But a few weeks later, about the same time we get the very first burlat cherries, we get the beginnings of the mara des bois strawberries – rounder, sweeter, and with a bit less of the subtle acidity that characterizes the gariguettes.
And this is just one example. I love watching the looks on the faces of my food tour clients when they discover that not just strawberries but asparagus, potatoes, cherries, greens, and tomatoes evolve and change over the course of just a few days or weeks.
To celebrate these fantastic gariguette strawberries, I decided to make a salad that combines sweet and savory: soft mâche lettuce, fried rounds of goat cheese, a handful of late spring radishes, and a sprinkle of fresh garden chives are the perfect way to set the stage for these early summer jewels.
In France, you would call this a salade composée, as it’s made up of several different ingredients (most French salads are just salade, or lettuce). But as far as I’m concerned, this recipe is simply quintessential summer.
Fried Goat Cheese Salad with Spring Greens and Strawberries (serves 4)
Recipe originally published on Organic Authority
- 3 cups mâche or lamb’s lettuce
- 1 small red beet, peeled and julienned or grated
- 10 French breakfast radishes, sliced
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 12 ounces goat cheese, sliced into 8 equal rounds
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 10 strawberries, halved or quartered
- 1/2 small bunch chives, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Combine the mâche, beet, and radishes in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
Whisk together the mustard, vinegar, and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Just before you prepare the goat cheese, toss the dressing with the salad, and place in a serving dish.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Dip the goat cheese rounds first in the egg and then in the panko, and fry for 1-2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Cook in batches, if needed.
Place the goat cheese rounds on top of the salad, and garnish with the strawberries and chives. Serve immediately.