Salad with Grapes and Pistachio-Crusted Goat Cheese

This salad is fantastic. I was expecting it to be good because I love all of the ingredients (mmm, goat cheese), but it somehow managed to exceed my already high expectations. There is a restaurant near my apartment that serves a wonderful salad with nut-crusted goat cheese and I order it every time I go there, so when I saw this recipe from Cooking Light I couldn’t wait to make it. The little pistachio-crusted goat cheese balls were so cute and the herb vinaigrette was delicious (plus you get bonus leftover dressing). I served this as a first course before dinner to my sister and parents and we all agreed that it was a winner. This is a perfect Spring salad!


Salad with Grapes and Pistachio-Crusted Goat Cheese
Source: Cooking Light

Salad Ingredients:
1/4 c shelled dry-roasted pistachios, chopped/crushed (I put mine in a ziplock and crushed them with a meat mallet)
4 oz goat cheese
1/4 c Herb Vinaigrette (see recipe below)
1 (5 oz) bag spring mix lettuce
1 c seedless red grapes, cut in half
¼ t freshly ground black pepper (I forgot to add this and it was delicious anyway)

Herb Vinaigrette:
9 T white wine vinegar
1 ½ T honey
1/2 t salt
1 c canola oil
3 T chopped fresh basil
3 T minced fresh chives

Dressing Instructions: Combine the vinegar, honey and salt in a medium bowl and whisk in oil until combined. Stir in basil and chives. Store in refrigerator. Yields about 1-2/3 cups. 1 T = 2 P+

Salad Directions:
1.    Place crushed pistachios in a small dish. Evenly divide goat cheese into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. Roll each cheese ball in the pistachios until evenly coated. Set aside.
2.    In a large bowl, combine the greens and the salad dressing and toss to combine. Divide salad evenly onto four salad plates and top each serving with ¼ of grapes and 3 cheese balls. Serve immediately.

Yields 4 servings. Weight Watchers Points Plus:  6 per serving