Baby Greens Salad with Roasted Figs, Bacon, and Warm Goat Cheese

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Oh! It has pine nuts and balsamic, too, but the title was already verging on a little longish, don’t you think?

The lovely people at Ile de France were nice enough to send me another sample of cheese, as they’ve done before.  Their cheese really are delicious, and I would definitely recommend trying them if you haven’t already. The  goat cheese is especially great because as you are prepping dinner, you can eat all the crumbs that fall off the log and/or get stuck to your fingers. And everyone knows that, even if you accidentally eat half the log, calories don’t count when you’re prepping dinner.

I had the idea to make a goat cheese-bacon salad earlier in the week but then I thought it sounded kind of boring.  At that point, I was instead going to crust the goat cheese in cornmeal, make a poblano dressing, and add some pepitas (which I’m sure I’ll still do at some point…). But, the day I was actually going to eat the salad, my mind started wandering to thoughts of bacon, as it often does.  I mean, really, how could I ever think of bacon and goat cheese, in any shape or form, as boring?

I decided the fate of the salad would rest on whether or not my husband found fresh figs at the market after work. If not, it was back to the southwesterny salad. I crossed all appendages, and I think it worked, because he came home with a small crate of figs.

This salad was so good. I certainly don’t claim to be the first to combine goat cheese and figs, or bacon and greens, but, dammit if I’m not awesome for combining all of those things plus toasty pine nuts into one great salad. Salty bacon, warm cheese, slightly sweet figs, crunchy pine nuts. How can you go wrong, really?

Baby Greens Salad with Roasted Figs, Bacon, and Warm Goat Cheese

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24 thoughts on “Baby Greens Salad with Roasted Figs, Bacon, and Warm Goat Cheese

  1. I think the best way to have goat cheese in any salad is to bread it and lightly fry – heaven! Your salad captures such great flavors together… great job!

  2. hello elly
    I am french and from Ile de France too !
    and your recipe looks great and tasty
    If you like French food come to see my food blog you are welcome !
    à bientôt (see u )
    Pierre

  3. You had me at warm goat cheese – YUM! And with figs and bacon – it just couldn’t get any better! And yes, calories definitely don’t count when you’re sampling the ingredients needed for dinner 🙂

  4. I made this last night for company and my family. No figs here, but I subbed them with red grapes that I also roasted as you had directed. I loved it, as did my older son, and the lady that was over. My husband didn’t care for it (he’s picky, hates fruit in anything *roll eyes here*) and my younger son and the lady’s hubby declared it ok.

    I would definitely make it again – it was simple, easily prepared mostly ahead of time, and very tasty! Thanks for the recipe!

  5. I am going to make this, but how long do you bake the goat cheese medallions for? I like the idea of baking them rather than pan-frying. THanks!

    1. Hi Lauren – I would bake them for about 6-7 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Just keep an eye on them so they are golden without melting. Goat cheese is pretty good about keeping its shape. Hope you like the salad!

  6. Elly, this was fantastic! I made it with roasted red grapes instead of figs and I also carmelized some shallots in the bacon renderings and included that in the dressing. DELICIOUS, thank you!

  7. Just reading the title you had me all warm and fuzzy. I love goat cheese. There is this restaurant about 30 minutes away that combines figs, goat cheese, hazelnuts apples and figs with a balsamic dressing and I get all goo goo over it in a way my husband can’t explain. This salad might just be the next level. Thanks for sharing.

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