Cherry & Goats Cheese Salad with Honey & Thyme Dressing contains plenty of crunch, plus dreamy creaminess and a good fruity bite. It's summer on a plate and so easy to assemble.
Nothing beats a good salad in the summer. And when I say a good salad, I mean crisp & juicy ingredients, a range of textures, a protein hit and a drizzle of complementary dressing to tie everything together. Bye-bye limp lettuce and bottled salad cream... hello succulent cherries, creamy goats cheese and herby honey vinaigrette.
I decided to cobble together this Cherry & Goats Cheese Salad with Honey & Thyme Dressing after I recently posted a fairly old picture of some goats cheese with cherries, honey and thyme on Instagram. Here it is. It proved popular and that got my mind around to the idea that I really should do something proper with this flavour-combo that I have loved for quite some time. So I whipped up an easy to assemble and flavour-packed summer salad.
But I also made some crostini. This simple snack was how I first enjoyed the delights of goats cheese, cherry & honey all mingled together straight after I took that old photo. Honestly, if the salad is easy, then these Cherry & Goats Cheese Crostini with Honey are a walk in the park on a sunny day.
How to Make the Salad
This salad takes just minutes to prepare and creates almost no washing up. The trick is to assemble it straight onto the serving plate, so the only extra items to wash are the chopping board, a knife and a pot for mixing the dressing in. Hurrah.
- Start by piling the salad leaves onto the plate. Use Sweet Romaine or another similar leaf that is crunchy and not bitter
- Layer up the sliced radish, cress, cherries and nuts
- Top with a few slices of goats cheese
- Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a small jug and drizzle over the salad
Total estimated preparation time - maybe 5 minutes tops. Double hurrah.
How to Make Cherry & Goats Cheese Crostini
If you are more in the mood for a carb hit than a greenery binge, then opt for a few rounds of crostini instead. Again these are ready in a flash. Just toast the bread, spread with goats cheese, top with pitted cherries and a drizzle of the honey. Job done.
Whichever way you play the goats cheese and cherry combination, you'll be getting great flavour for minimum effort.
Want more salads? Try these:
- Raw Beetroot and Caper Salad
- Roast Carrot Lentil Salad with Feta
- Kale and Sprout Salad with Soft Boiled Egg
How about More Crostini?
- Rustic Fig Prosciutto Gorgonzola Crostini
- Taleggio Crostini 3 Ways
- Breakfast Crostini: Mixed Berry Toasts
Goats Cheese & Cherry Salad with Honey & Thyme Dressing
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 Head Romaine Lettuce (or other sweet & crunchy lettuce)
- 12 Cherries
- 60 g/ 2 oz Goats cheese
- 12 Almonds (blanched)
- 12 Hazelnuts (blanched)
- 2 Radish
- 1 Pot salad cress
For the Dressing
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tsp White wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 2 tsp Fresh thyme leaves
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Wash the salad leaves and pat dry on a clean tea towel
- Rip up the large ones and scatter over 2 serving plates
- Thinly slice the radish and divide between the plates
- Cut the cress and scatter over the leaves
- Cut the cherries in half, remove the stones and divide between the plates along with the nuts
- Slice the goats cheese and use to top the salads
- Put the dressing ingredients into a small jug and blend. Season to taste, then drizzle over the salad
- Serve immediately
Goats Cheese & Cherry Crostini with Honey
Ingredients
- 6 Thin slices baguette style bread
- 90 g/ 3 oz Goats cheese
- 6 Fresh cherries
- Honey - for drizzling
- Fresh thyme
Instructions
- Toast the bread
- Divide the goats cheese between the slices and spread it out
- Half and stone the cherries and use to top the goats cheese
- Drizzle a little honey across the crostini just before serving and garnish with a small spring of fresh thyme
I love cherries, probably my favorite fruit if the season! I wouldn't have thought to combine it with goats cheese, such a cool idea! Thank you for sharing
It's my guilty pleasure during cherry season, especially with a touch of honey. Enjoy.
Salad looks amazing! Need to add cherry this summer in my salad!
Do it Vanitha, it's fantastic.
That looks amazing! I am now thinking why do I never put cherries into salad. Sharing this one!
Thanks So much Jaqueline
What a tasty sounding salad! I wouldn't have thought to pair cherries and goats cheese together!
They go together so well - and a drizzling of honey is the crowning glory.
this salad was so refreshing - thank you!!
My pleasure Tawnie