Chef Jessica Bright

Your Food Enthusiast and Kitchen Enabler

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Blueberry Balsamic Salad with Goat Cheese Croutons

A row of baby lettuces in our community garden.

One of the things I love most about gardening is out ability to grow plenty of beautiful baby greens in a small area.  These fresh picked leaves are fresher, sweeter, and healthier than anything you can find in a store and my kids eat with enthusiasm what they have helped grow.

Our lettuce seedlings.

Sometimes it felt like I was getting stuck in a routine with my salad dressings. I kept making the same two basic recipes.  Then I ended up with a little leftover preserves and thought I would have a little fun infusing my dressing with the fresh fruity flavor.  Though I used blueberry for this recipe, you could easily expand the idea by using other preserve flavors to create a diverse array of fruit infused flavors.  Blackberry, strawberry, and marmalade are all among the other varieties I have made.  I have to warn you too…these croutons are addictive!  You may find yourself making them WITHOUT the salad to serve as an appetizer!

Blueberry Balsamic Salad with Goat Cheese Croutons

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

30 minutes

Number of servings: 6

Per Serving 344 calories

Fat 14 g

Carbs 48 g

Protein 10 g

6


This salad is truly delicious, and the croutons are so yummy you may want to make them alone as a appetizer!

Ingredients

2 TBSP blueberry preserves
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 medium shallot finely minced
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
Spring mixed greens, arugula, or lettuce of choice
1 large granny smith apple, sliced and tossed in lemon juice
¼ cup dried cranberries or blueberries
½ cup thinly sliced red onion

Goat Cheese Croutons

1 loaf French baguette, cut into ½ inch slices
½ cup soft goat cheese “chevre”
About ¼ cup pecan halves
2 tsp honey
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Soak the onion in ice water for a minimum of an hour to remove any bitterness.

Whisk together blueberry preserves, vinegar, shallot, and extra virgin olive oil.

Place lettuce in a large salad bowl. Top with apple, berries, and the soaked onion. Drizzle the dressing over the top and arrange croutons around the side. Serve immediately.If desired you can also add more toasted nuts, grilled fish, or grilled chicken to make the salad a little heartier.

To make croutons, preheat oven to 350ºF.

Spread each slice of bread with the cheese and line them up side-by-side on a baking sheet. Press a pecan half into the cheese on each slice of bread. Drizzle honey and olive oil over all of the nuts, top with a little black pepper.

Bake until bread is toasted and nuts are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

 

Rows of baby Romaine.