Bistro Salad with Warm Goat Cheese

My dear friend Sheri gave me a copy of Zingerman's and I've been studying it assiduously. I decided that whenever I'm just short of having enough groceries in my cart to use one of Central Market's coupons, then I'm going to splurge on some special ingredient.

I have been wanting some walnut oil. LeBlanc's is supposed to be incomparable, and when I saw the price it wasn't hard to imagine. As soon as I got home, I tasted a drop on the tip of my finger. I said "Wow!" out loud before I even realized it. I couldn't wait to try it on a salad.

I knew just the recipe. I've been making a warm goat cheese salad from Paula Lambert for a long time. When I saw this one in Fine Cooking, I knew I wanted to try it, but it calls for hazelnuts, which I'm not crazy about. Plus, walnuts and walnut oil are high in omega 3-fatty acids, which lower bad cholesterol levels (LDL) and raise good cholesterol levels (HDL).

I loved the flavor of the oil on the greens. But I think I like the goat cheese breaded with crumbs in the other recipe better than I like it coated with nuts. Either way though, warm goat cheese is just yummy. I like apples with it.

• Bistro Salad with Warm Goat Cheese (Fine Cooking #57, p. 21)