Snow pea salad with preserved lemon and goat cheese medallions

This is one of those showpiece salads that start every dinner ideally.

Snow peas are now available for a short season, so I am trying to enjoy them as much as possible. More on snow peas here.

The chef describes a salad as consisting of three components: acid, usually from vinegar or lemon; crunch from leaves and vegetables; and fat, usually from olive oil and cheese.

This salad has them in perfect combination: the acid from preserved lemons, the fat from the soft, warm cheese and the snow peas and greens adding the crunch.

The beautifully spiced and coated goat cheese medallions add that sense of luxury to this salad, which is the next level. The spiced preserved lemons supersede the traditional vinegar or lemon dressing, and the snow peas add that sweet flavour of green. Do not be put off by the long ingredient list, the salad is quite simple, just an assembly of the dressing and the greens, and a simple pan fry of the cheese that takes a few minutes. You will be glad you made this salad once you taste it. This is a salad I want every day!

I absolutely love this cookbook for its diversity of dishes, flavours, and fun, casual style. The recipes are quite unique, this salad being a perfect example, and I should be cooking from this cookbook more often. This book also highlights the unique style and cuisine of the American North West, Portland, the region, fresh, beautiful cuisine that is foraged and amazing.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

For the medallions:

1 log (4 oz) goat cheese

3 tablespoons oil

1 cup breadcrumbs, Panko preferred

1 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 fresh garlic minced finely

Salt, to taste

1/2-1 teaspoon ancho chilli powder or any chilli powder of your choosing

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 egg, beaten

For the salad:

1 teaspoon preserved lemon juice

2 tablespoons minced preserved lemons

1 generous pinch of ground coriander seed

1 generous pinch of ground cumin seed

1-1 1/2 cups snow or sugar snap peas, stringed and cut along the diagonal

1/3 cup mint, torn

2 cups greens, pea shoots if you can find them or baby spinach or arugula

See the video on how to string snow or sugar snap peas.

Mix the preserved lemon juice, coriander, cumin powders, and the minced preserved lemons well for the salad. Set aside.

Toss the snow peas or sugar snap peas and mint. Toss the peas with the preserved lemon dressing when the goat cheese medallions are frying. Layer on a bed of greens in a wide bowl

For the goat cheese medallions, cut the log into six circles. If you cannot find a log, cut a block of goat cheese into 1-inch cubes.

Mix the breadcrumbs, garlic, salt, chilli powder, and pepper in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg till there are no more strings and it is smooth.

Heat the frying pan with the oil. Dip a piece of the goat cheese into the egg and allow the egg to drip off completely. Dredge the goat cheese in the breadcrumb mix and place it in the skillet. Repeat with the other pieces of cheese, but do not crowd the skillet too much. Fry on a hot flame till the medallions are golden brown. Turn and fry again until the other side is browned, too. Remove and place on paper towels to drain very briefly.

Layer on the pea salad and serve immediately while the goat cheese medallions are still hot and gooey.