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With summer here we have been enjoying our lazy days and warm weather celebrations. My daughter finished kindergarten this week and we are gearing up for camp and travels. For a recent potluck in Santa Monica I made a huge Greek Salad. This week I have another potluck and have a new salad. For this one I combined creamy, tangy goat cheese with toasted pecans, sweet raspberries and tossed with fresh mixed greens.
My friend Angie hosted a lovely beach potluck picnic in Laguna Beach for Memorial Day. I created another sweet meets savory, fruit & cheese combination inspired by my last post Omelette with Brie Cheese Basil and Strawberries.
Do you have a favorite salad with fruit? What is your favorite dressing?
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Salad with Goat Cheese Pecan Balls & Raspberry Vinaigrette
Makes 4 servings -or- Serves as many as you want it to. Make a Big Batch for your family or for entertaining.
NOTES:
- Dress as needed. Greens will stay fresh as long as you keep oils and dressings off until serving.
INGREDIENTS
{Salad}
- 5-7 ounces Baby Greens or Baby Spinach leaves
- 8 oz Goat Cheese (assume 1-2 ounces of Goat Cheese per person)
- 1-2 cups ground toasted Pecans
- 1-2 cups fresh Raspberries
- ground Black Pepper
{Raspberry Dressing}
4-6 servings
- 2 tablespoons Pecan, Walnut, Hazelnut, Canola or Grapeseed Oil
- 4 tablespoons Seasoned Rice Vinegar
- 1 cup Raspberries
- 4 drops clear Stevia extract
METHOD
Goat Cheese Balls: Toast pecans in a 350˚F oven with the rack in the middle for about 10 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned. Watch that they do not burn. Lets nuts cool. Add pecans to blender or food processor, grind until finely ground like bread crumbs. Shape goat cheese into balls about 3/4 inches each. Roll goat cheese balls in toasted pecans.
Dressing: Add oil, vinegar and raspberries to food processor or blender. Blend until well combined. Taste and add stevia or sweetener of choice until desired level of sweetness is achieved.
Prepare Salad: Top greens with goat cheese balls, fresh raspberries and some ground black pepper. Drizzle with raspberry dressing.
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Potluck Salad Recipe Links
- Greek Salad with Sundried Tomatoes and Feta Cheese MarlaMeridith.com
- Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad with Parmesan Crisps Bake Bike Blog
- Spinach Apple Salad Anja’s Food for Thought
- Spinach Salad with Chicken, Orange and Avocado Cookin’ Canuck
- Spring Salad with Vegan Poppyseed Dressing Healthy Happy Life
This looks fantastic. I like to do pistachio crusted goat cheese. It looks like you had an army at your picnic…so much food. But that beach air definitely ups the appetite 🙂
Goat cheese pecan balls?! How delicious! Am I missing how we enter the giveaway? Or do we just comment here? 🙂
A great place to have a potluck! That salad looks so colorful and lovely!
Cheers,
Rosa
Those goat cheese balls look fabulous! I’d love to win this food chopper!!
Such simple preparation for such a yummy salad. Love the idea to roll the goatcheese in nuts.
Lovely salad. It looks so pretty and I am sure it is tasty too!
What a delicious looking salad. And your photos are gorgeous!
Marla, I’d love to win this food processor, how do I enter? 🙂
By the way, that salad looks GORGEOUS.
This is a great salad. Those not crusted cheese balls are worthy of their own plate if you ever need a appetizer with pizazz! GREG
Great summer salad. Looks like you’re the unofficial queen of beach potlucks!!
Is my comment my entry? I hope so. WONDERFUL salad!!!!
This is my dream salad! I love, love goat cheese and can’t wait to make this salad … maybe this weekend!
My food processor just broke but I am waiting to buy one because my boyfriend and I are moving and need to save right now. This giveaway would be great!
Kirby
LOVE summer and fresh from the garden salads! I made Tahini dressing for last night’s, but my fave is balsamic…
I love goat cheese and pecans in my salads. Such a beautiful salad too, especially with the raspberries. Great giveaway as well!
This is such a beautiful salad! I love how you paired the little goat cheese balls with raspberries. The dressing looks fantastic too!
Hey guys the link for this giveaway is in this salad post, here it is again:
https://192.163.193.237/~marlamer/blog/giveaway-cuisinart-4-cup-choppergrinder/
Good luck and have a great weekend!
Marla
Marla – what a gorgeous salad! Can’t wait to try the goat cheese pecan balls – very versatile. Everything looks so beautiful.
The photo collage – the photographs… the recipe… the post – all gorgeous and full of life and colour and SPRING! YUM. I have done a similar salad with toasted goat cheese croutes… encrusted in hazelnuts. They are flat medallions, or rectangles, grilled until the nuts toast on the outside, and then laid over the top of the salad. YUM. This one looks great, too – and I must try your dressing.
🙂
valerie
Oh i LOVE this salad!!
This is the prettiest salad! It is so light and yet seems so decadent with the goat cheese balls.
What a georgous, tasty & well flavoures summer salad!!
I so love the idea of the pecans that are covered around the goat’s cheese!! That raspberry vinegraitte is calling my name,..mmmmmmmmmm!!!
the salad looks good; the dressing looks GREAT!
I love everything about that salad. I’ve got to try that pecan crusted goat cheese!
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
This looks like one awesome memorial day party! I love the goat cheese balls in that salad…perfect with the raspberry vinaigrette.
Awesome giveaway! My roommate just moved out and took her food processor with her…I’m now in serious withdrawal!
The lure for this salad is definitely those nut crusted goat cheese balls.
Looks FANTASTIC! The goat cheese balls are calling my name 🙂 What a pretty and fun potluck item!
What a delicious looking salad! I love your blog! The pictures in this post were beautiful! xxx
What a gorgeous site you have here! Really beautiful photography!
Carol, thanks for stopping by my blog and for your sweet comment.
This MAY be the best thing you’ve ever made! YUMMMMMMMM!
Wow! This looks incredible. What a great combination of flavors and colors! So perfect for summer – wonderful pictures! Happy I stumbled across your blog 🙂
xxMK
Delightful Bitefuls
beautiful salad! have to make the goat cheese pecan balls for my sister. she’d love this!
Gorgeous! What a simple, beautiful, recipe idea. Thanks for sharing!