Summer Salad with Pickled Blueberries
Slightly sweetened pickled blueberries add a burst of summer flavor in this simple salad. Creamy goat cheese rolled in toasted sesame seeds adds crisp texture with a creamy interior, pairing beautifully with crisp salad greens. Using some of the pickling liquid as the base for the dressing makes it all come together quickly and easily. The pickled blueberries are also great served over chicken, meat, pork, or salmon as a quick sauce.
Ingredients
- Pickled blueberries
- 1 cup fresh blueberries washed and dried
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- 8 ounces goat cheese slightly softened
- 1 large bunch mixed greens
- ½ pint fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Pickled Blueberries: place blueberries into a mason jar with about a ½ inch of room at top of jar. Set aside.
- In a nonreactive saucepan, add water, vinegar, sugar, thyme, peppercorns, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar with blueberries. Allow mixture to cool completely. Once cooled, cover and refrigerate until ready to use (at least 1 day but up to 1 week).
- Dressing: in a mason jar, combine 2 tablespoons liquid from cooled pickled blueberries, mustard, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and shake until combined. Taste and adjust as desired.
- Goat Cheese Rounds: Place sesame seeds in a dry saute pan and lightly toast over low heat. Stir seeds as they toast, watching carefully so as to not let them burn (when you just start to smell them, they should be done). Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- Using a small ice cream scoop or melon baller, form goat cheese into 1-inch round balls (you should have 10 to 12 balls once finished). Roll each ball in cooled sesame seeds once or twice, coating each ball completely.
- Salad: toss greens with vinaigrette and place in a large serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Scatter top with some strained pickled blueberries and goat cheese balls. Serve immediately.
