A warm salad for a cold day

True to form, the weather here now has cooled down to the point of being categorised as sweatshirt weather in the evenings and early mornings. In other words, Masala is sporting one of her now famous sweaters.

So, I made a warm salad, or at least a salad that warms me up!

The World's Easiest Goat Cheese Salad

*Several Handfuls of mache or watercress (very tender baby spinach or baby arugula could be possible substitutes)

*Several clementines or mandarins peeled and "strings''removed, or segmented oranges (Though to me segmented oranges are not synonymous with any "easy" recipe) or even canned mandarins in a pinch

* Finely shaved slices of sweet red onions or shallots (optional)

* Spicy Pecans from Trader Joe's (or lightly roasted pecans/ walnuts plus a tiny bit of crushed red pepper or cayenne or a couple of flavored croutons) - ground coarsely using a mortar-pestle or any similar implement of your choice

*a small log of goat cheese

Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350.

Place the nuts on a side of a large cutting board. Cut or divvy up the goatcheese into about 1 to 2 Tb portions, and shape each into a disk no more than 1/3 inch thick. Break each disk into half and roll it in the crushed nuts. Shape it back into a disk again and roll it in the nuts again to make all outside surfaces are covered, and be sure to press the nut bits (he heh he) into the cheese. Set aside.

Now make your easy-peasy dressing: Add freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice (or a mix or lemon and orange juice, or even plain lemon juice if you like) to a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Add sugar or splenda, salt, pepper and cayenne to taste and shake vigorously to mix. Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil to taste. I like 1/3 as much EVOO as the juice, but if you like your dressings oilier, you can use a 50-50 ratio of juice to oil.

Place the previously prepared cheese disks on a non-stick cookie sheet and place in the oven. Set your timer to three minutes, and start tossing your salad of greens, oranges and optional onion/shallot. Divide the salad onto individual plates (or large pasta bowls like I do).

As soon as the timer goes off check the cheese to see if it is just slightly melted, and warm to the touch (If it is too melted, you will need to set your oven to 300 next time.)

Place a disk on each plate on top of the salad and serve immediately. And more importantly, be sure to eat it immediately!

Bon appetit!