Friday, January 19, 2007

Oh yum


Above is the meal we had for dinner last night. In the forefront is an egg (or free-range Egg Beaters, really)-based dish that I made. I thought it was going to be delicious. It was frozen hashbrowns topped with broccoli topped with an egg, herb, and cheese mixture, and baked until firm. It was . . . edible. I won't make it again.

I wish I had another photo showing the salad in the background in greater detail. It turned out to be the star of the meal. I thought briefly about taking a photo of it by itself in the middle of dinner, but I was too busy gobbling it down and moaning with the sheer pleasure of it.

I based it on a blogger's recipe, but I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw it, and I couldn't find it last night when I was ready to cook, either, so I improvised.

Mixed greens in lemon dressing with honey-roasted vegetables and pan-fried goat cheese

Serves 2

4 oz. herbed log of goat cheese
4 egg whites
1/2 c. of Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
3 T. of olive oil

3-4 c. chopped fresh veggies (I used carrots, yellow squash, and broccoli)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

3 c. mixed greens salad mix
1 T. sundried tomatoes, packed in oil
2-3 T. lemon dressing (see the recipe a few posts ago)

Slice your goat cheese log into approx. 1/2" slices. You should end up with about six slices total. (One easy way to slice soft goat cheese is with a piece of unflavored floss.)

Beat your egg whites in a small bowl.

Pour the bread crumbs into another small bowl.

Dip each piece of cheese into egg and then dredge it in breadcrumbs. As you make them, place the breaded goat cheese slices on a plate. Put the plate in a fridge, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375.

In the meantime, chop your mixed vegetables, and combine them in a bowl with the oil, honey, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Toss together.

Put your veggies on a jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with slightly raised edges), and roast them 20-40 minutes, depending on how thick you cut your veggies. (If the baking pan you are using tends to make things stick to it, spray it with cooking spray first.) About halfway through the cooking time, take the pan out of the oven and stir the vegetables.

When your vegetables are about 10 minutes from being done, put your salad mix into a very large bowl.

Chop your sundried tomato pieces into little bits, and toss them in the salad.

Take the vegetables out of the oven.

Heat 3 T. of olive oil in a non-stick pan to med-high heat. Pan-fry the goat cheese pieces for 2-3 minutes on each side.

While they are frying, toss the vegetables with your salad mix and the lemon dressing. Divide your salad into two bowls (for serving two people).

When the goat cheese is golden-brown on both sides, remove it and transfer it to the waiting salad bowls. Serve immediately.

The goat cheese pieces will ooze into your salad when you cut into them. The vegetables will taste sweet from roasting with honey. The combination of the salty cheese, slightly tart dressing, sweet vegetables, and mildly bitter salad greens will be heavenly together.

4 comments:

jeremy said...

the theory of the hashbrown dish was sound... maybe add some heat to it with some roasted jalapenos or good hot sauce. all the flavors sound like they should have worked, for sure.

Maybe also sub the egg beaters for a real egg- the yolk would add some real substance to the texture of the egg.

Sally JPA said...

Yeah, but if I switched to regular eggs, with the amount of cheese in the recipe, I would suddenly be making something high in calories. Plus, the hashbrowns were just mushy.

But there are 3 billion or so recipes I want to try, so it'll be alright.

PearShapedGirl said...

Hi Veggie, thanks for stopping by my blog. That salad recipe sounds absolutely divine! I will definitely have to try that sometime... Mmmmm, pan-fried goat cheese... Best of luck on your weight-loss venture!

Take care,
PSG

Sally JPA said...

Pear-shaped, thanks for the comment. I promise the salad is woooonderful.