Spinach Salad with Fried Goat Cheese

     So I was wondering, after seeing someone else do it... how does one FRY goat cheese? Let me assure you, it's a cinch! I didn't bother to look up a recipe for a roasted red pepper balsamic vinaigrette; I just threw one together. I thought of doing a creamy dressing, but then decided that that would be too much dairy in one dish. The vinaigrette is nice! But I may try more of a lemon juice/olive oil and herb option next time.     
     Above are pictured very thinly sliced yellow onions, but I would have preferred green onions... You work with what you got, right? This salad would also have been AWESOME with some bits of bacon.
     You know, the fried goat cheese could be a really cool party appetizer with an interesting dipping sauce... Hmmm... Maybe I'll be inventing that soon!

     Frying tip: I chose not to use (and therefore waste) a lot of oil. When the oil was hot, I tipped the frying pan over so that the oil was about half an inch thick, and I fried two little balls of goat cheese at a time, turning them every 10 seconds or so to fry evenly. Worked fine.


     SPINACH SALAD WITH FRIED GOAT CHEESE 
        AND ROASTED RED PEPPER VINAIGRETTE

2 red bell peppers, roasted
1 large garlic clove, roasted
3-4 oz goat cheese
1 lemon
about 3 tablespoons minced parsley
1 egg
1/3 cup brown rice flour (or panko bread crumbs)
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted 
2-3 big handfuls fresh baby spinach
2 green onions, minced
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup oil for frying (I used sunflower oil)


Cut bell peppers in half and seed them. Brush with a small bit of olive oil and bake, along with your clove of garlic (still with its skin) at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the bell peppers' skins begin to rise and blister. Allow to cool and peel off skins.

While peppers are baking, grate the peel of the lemon and combine with parsley and goat cheese. Roll goat cheese into 1/2" to 1" balls and freeze for 20 minutes.

When bell peppers are removed from the oven, turn the oven off, but set walnuts on a baking sheet and roast in the oven on the leftover heat.

Place bell peppers, garlic, thyme, and balsamic vinegar in a food processor and process about 20 seconds... stream in olive oil until smooth.

Whisk egg in a small bowl, dip goat cheese into egg and dredge in rice flour. Fry at medium to medium high heat until light golden brown. If using panko, this will happen more quickly.

Arrange spinach, green onions and walnuts on a plate. Scatter fried goat cheese and drizzle with dressing.

Voila!