Blood Orange and Pomegranate Salad

with Crispy Goat Cheese

Makes 4 servings

This falls in between a citrus salad and a green salad, but then it throws in a ringer: crispy disks of fried goat cheese. I added this to turn the salad into a meal, but you can skip the fried cheese and sprinkle some crumbled goat cheese over the salad.

Shallot Vinaigrette

Makes ½ cup

• ¼ cup finely chopped shallot
• 3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a bowl, combine the shallot and vinegar. Let stand for 1 hour. Drain and reserve 2 tablespoons of the vinegar. Add the shallot and vinegar to a mixing bowl along with the lemon juice, oregano, salt, and pepper. Whisk until combined, then slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified.

Crispy Goat Cheese

• One 4-ounce log goat cheese
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• ½ cup flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup dry fine breadcrumbs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Line a small baking sheet or plate with parchment paper. Cut the goat cheese into 8 disks and arrange on the parchment. Freeze for 30 minutes to firm up the cheese.

Right before you’re ready to serve the salad, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan to 360°F. Place the flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Dredge one cheese disk in the flour, then dip in the egg, letting the excess run off. Dredge again in the flour, then the egg, then coat with breadcrumbs. Repeat with the remaining cheese.

Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

For Serving

• 4 blood oranges
• 4 cups mesclun mix
• Shallot Vinaigrette
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped mint
• Crispy Goat Cheese
• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Using a sharp knife, cut the peel and pith off the oranges. Working over a bowl, cut the oranges between the membranes to release the segments.

Divide the greens among four shallow serving bowls. Drizzle each salad with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Scatter the pomegranate seeds, mint, and blood orange segments over the greens and top each salad with two fried cheese disks. Season with flaky salt and pepper and serve.

The Takeaway

To get an extra-crispy coating on the fried goat cheese, I double-batter the cheese—flour, egg, flour, egg—before it gets coated in breadcrumbs. Keep this technique in mind for any time you’re frying cheese or other high-moisture ingredients.