Parisian Summer Salad with Baked Goat Cheese Rounds

In 10 days, I'm leaving on a marvelous adventure in France!  I will be one of four instructors for a six-and-a-half-week French immersion program for high school students.  It's going to be a lot of work, but it's going to be amazing.  I'll be in Brest, which is in Brittany, and from what I hear, they have incredible food.  Ever heard, for example, of a kouign-amann?  Basically, buttery, sugary, caramelized goodness.  And there's more where that came from.  So excited!

In preparation to go to France, I will share with you my own creation, inspired by the wonderfully fresh and light salads I had in Paris last summer with my family.  They often served their salads with toast topped with baked goat cheese, which pretty much has the texture of soft, creamy sex.  So, within days of coming home to the States, I whipped up my own approximation of such a salad, complete with sexy goat cheese toast rounds (ignore the burnt edges in the photo above - it was still phenomenal).

Hopefully this salad will transport you to the outdoor patio of a Parisian café in the summertime, where I often like to live in my dreams. Enjoy!

Bread, ready for toastin'.

Red, ripe strawburries.

Mix up the greens and whatnot...

Add some meats...

Choose some nice chèvre.

Voilà! She is finished!

Parisian Summer Salad with Baked Goat Cheese Rounds

 

16 oz spring mix

1 lb chicken breast or tenderloins

1 10-oz carton of strawberries

1 24.5-oz jar of mandarin oranges

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 baguette or loaf of crusty French bread

11 oz goat cheese

1 tsp rosemary

1 tbsp olive oil

For the salad:

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

2. Add the chicken to the pan, sprinkle with the rosemary, and cook until lightly browned on the outside and completely white on the inside.  Set aside to cool.

3. Wash the strawberries and cut them into slices. Drain the mandarin oranges.

4. Place the spring mix, strawberries, oranges, and walnuts in a large bowl (or plastic storage container), and mix lightly.

5. Cut the chicken into approx. 1" chunks (or strips).  Add on top of salad.

For the goat cheese rounds: 

1. Slice the goat cheese into rounds, about 1/4" thick.

2. Slice the baguette, making sure to have at least two slices of bread for each serving of salad.

3. Place one goat cheese round on each baguette slice, and toast in the oven at 300°F for 7-10 minutes.  Or, if you have a toaster oven, use that!  That way, you can watch them and make sure they don't burn.

Serve the salad on a plate, drizzled with your favorite fruity dressing (I used Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Balsamic dressing), with the goat cheese rounds on the sides. Bon appétit!

Just as a disclaimer, I tend to make things in large amounts so I don't have to cook everyday, so don't balk at the bulk quantity of salad!  This keeps pretty well, so feel free to keep re-toasting the baguette and goat cheese every time you eat it, or just serve those by themselves for a tasty appetizer.