So you don’t think goats are sexy, huh? You don’t find their hooves and beards enchanting? Their bleating cries a top a craggily mountains isn’t a huge turn on? Then you haven’t sampled goat cheese baked to perfection with the pistachio crust atop a mountain of greens and grape boulders smothered is a sticky sweet balsamic reduction. You may find yourself licking the plate clean and stealing a little off your lover’s plate (CTB won’t tell). No one will blame you once this sexy dish seduces your mouth, body and soul. The goat bleats will become a choir of enchanting angels beckoning you to join them in their four-legged rendition of the Macarena. You will be completely powerless to resist and you will love every minute of it because your date will be by your side, equally entranced by the goat cheese’s power that is turbo-charged with the balsamic blast. The healthy spinach and the mysterious aphrodisiac powers of the grapes create a perfect storm of culinary delight. Give in and go with it. This salad can take you places you never knew existed. And at the end of the journey your inevitable sexual conquest will be secondary to the post-coital glow you experienced with love at first bite.
Total time: approximately 15 minutes
Projected cost for ingredients: $6
Ingredients (for two):
1. 2 tablespoons of honey
2. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
3. ½ cup of balsamic vinegar
4. 4 handfuls of spinach leaves
5. ¼ pound of grapes (ideally champagne)
6. 2 tablespoons of crushed pistachio nuts
7. 4 rounds cut from a goat cheese log
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pour olive oil over the goat cheese rounds, then set in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Drain the oil from the goat cheese and cover each round with crushed pistachios. Bake them for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside.
Step 2
Make the balsamic reduction dressing by turning stove onto medium heat and adding the honey and balsamic vinegar, stirring vigorously. Cook the liquid down to 1/3 of its original volume. Pour the dressing into a container and allow it to cool.
Step 3
Set a bed of spinach leaves on each plate and lay down a healthy handful of grapes as pillows. Serve up two rounds of baked goat cheese on each plate, then pour the balsamic reduction over your sensational salad. Serve solo for lunch or as a starter before a no doubt enticing entrée.