Salad
Tomato and Mesclun Salad with Dill French Dressing and Toasted Chevrai Cheese

This recipe was featured on
"You're the Chef" episode #414.
Buy this episode from WVIA.

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Yield: six dinner portions

Ingredients:

Dressing
1/2 c.	fresh dill, stemmed and chopped
1/4 c.	white balsamic vinegar
3/4 c.	salad oil
to taste	salt
to taste	ground black pepper
Salad
3 each	large, ripe tomatoes, stemmed and cored, cut in half, one small pocket of seeds removed
1 each	bag of Mesclun salad mix
6 each	leek ties (optional)
12 oz.	Chevrai or Montrachet style goat cheese, chilled, cut or shaped into 12 pieces
as needed	extra virgin olive oil
as needed	fine breadcrumbs
to taste	salt
to taste	ground black pepper

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Dressing procedure:
Combine the dill with the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Salad procedure:
Just before service, prepare the tomatoes. Tie the lettuce together in bundles, and insert a bundle into the small pocket where the seeds were in the tomato – this should allow the salad to stand up in the tomato like it is a vase.

Chill the goat cheese until very firm. Cut using a warm knife dipped in oil. Lay the cheese into a shallow pan that has a thin layer of breadcrumbs, oil, salt and pepper in it. Pick up the cheese with a small spatula and grill for 45 seconds over high heat on the breadcrumb side only. Remove from the heat and set 2 pieces on each tomato.

Serve with the dressing drizzled around the plate.