Enjoy this roasted vegetables with fried goat cheese salad recipe during the colder months. The roasted root vegetables pair perfectly with the tangy fried goat cheese pieces for a delicious vegetarian salad!

Happy November <- yup! November! It’s November, and I’m kind of in-denial-yet-super-excited-about-the-holidays. This year I’m really planning ahead for Thanksgiving and have some awesome recipes I’m really excited to share with you guys over the next few weeks.

During the fall, you always see root vegetables like beets and carrots in abundance, and I feel like they are not highlighted nearly enough. So today I’m sharing one of my favorite ways to enjoy roasted root vegetables – and that is in a warm salad, with fried goat cheese.

The first time I tried making fried goat cheese, it was a mess. It was as if the goat cheese melted immediately and didn’t hold it’s shape. I ended up with a skillet full of goat cheese breadcrumbs. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not what I was going for. So I tried again, I found the perfect way to fry goat cheese for salads so that it keeps its shape: you freeze the goat cheese to harden it ahead of time. By freezing the goat cheese a little, it holds its shape, and doesn’t immediately melt when frying it up. YUM! I also found that all you need is a little bit of milk to get the breadcrumbs to stick. I tried it with both eggs and milk, and with eggs the goat cheese and breadcrumbs aren’t as delicate. It turns into something where your main flavor is thick breading. But, if you dunk the goat cheese in a little bit of milk and then coat the with breadcrumbs, you get this amazing light and airy texture and the goat cheese flavor is still front and center!

For Thanksgiving I always make roasted squash and sweet potatoes and make this 5 ingredient honey and goat cheese appetizer, this year I’m going to be including this roasted vegetables and fried goat cheese salad, because it just is so delicious!!

Yield: 4

Roasted Vegetables with Fried Goat Cheese Salad Recipe

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 minute

Ingredients

• For the roasted vegetables:
• 1 lb beets, peeled, cut into 1 -2 inch chunks
• 1 lb carrots, cut into 1/2 inch to 1 inch cunks
• 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• For the fried goat cheese:
• 4 oz goat cheese (I usually buy one of those small logs with pepper on it, plain is just fine)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup Italian style panko breadcrumbs (you could use regular breadcrumbs too)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

For the roasted vegetables:

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Put beet, carrot and red onion pieces directly onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and garlic salt.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until vegetables are tender with poked with a fork. Remove from oven, and transfer vegetables to a bowl.

For the fried goat cheese:

Freeze goat cheese for 30 minutes, or until firm to touch.

Cut goat cheese into discs, and cut each disk into 3rd or 4ths, so that you have about 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces.

Pour milk into one bowl, and breadcrumbs into another bowl.

Over medium-high heat, heat olive oil in a large frying pan (preferably nonstick). Let oil heat up while you prepare the goat cheese pieces.

One at a time, take a piece of goat cheese, dredge it through the milk, and then the breadcrumbs, pressing the breadcrumbs onto the goat cheese so that all sides are covered. Put piece of goat cheese into the frying pan and repeat until all the goat cheese is in the pan.

Fry the goat cheese for 1 minute, then gently flip it and fry it for another minute, until both sides are slightly golden brown. Remove from heat, and transfer fried goat cheese pieces onto a paper towel lined plate.

Put goat cheese pieces on top of roasted vegetables, stir, and enjoy.

This salad serves great both warm and cold.