dressing for a fig/walnut/goat cheese salad over baby greens?

[poochiechow]

hi all -

i'm making the salad tonight for a dinner party and was assigned a fig/walnut/goat cheese combination. however, the recipe i was given called for sherry wine vinegar and walnut oil, both of which i don't have (and won't have time to get).

instead, i'm thinking of substituting either a reduced balsamic/honey mixture, OR an EVOO/balsamic/honey recipe i found... or should i do something else entirely? i have a good collection of vinegars on hand (but only olive oil)...

thanks!

[dianne0712]

Do you have tarragon vinegar? Try that with a touch of dijon in the dressing. Too bad about the walnut oil. I often use one that has an egg yolk with the tarragon for my pear, walnut, goat cheese salad.

[maxie]

Port vinaigrette?

[Harters]

I rarely stray far from the classic olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard route.

[escondido123]

I would be very careful of making the dressing sweet because the figs are already sweet. One way to amp up the fig flavor without adding too much sweetness is to use a fig as part of the dressing. Just make a basic vinaigrette in the Food Processor and throw in a whole, ripe fig. Makes an unctuous dressing with a lovely velvety texture.

[poochiechow]

that sounds absolutely ridiculous! i sadly don't have a food processor (no room) but i'm sure a blender would get the job done...

thanks!

[escondido123]

Blender would do fine, just let it puree until disintegrated.

[ChristinaMason]

I don't think you can go wrong with a simple red wine and honey vinaigrette for that salad. Balsamic reduction sounds good too, but make sure people dress their own salads, or the color will be horrid.

[poochiechow]

ha! hadn't even thought about how awful things look with balsamic reduction... good point.

[ChristinaMason]

The dressing written up here might work well: http://apartmentdining.com/2009/08/14...

LindaWhit's maple balsamic dressing would also be great:

"In a medium-sized jar (I use a Bonne Maman preserves jar) combine the following:

4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
4 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 clove garlic finely minced
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 to 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Tighten the lid and shake it all together until blended. It thickens slightly in the fridge and needs to be re-shook up if it sits more than an hour or so. The above is my adaption of a recipe I had from the Boston Globe's Food section from 2/28/01. "

I play with the proportions a little bit, reducing the (Grade B) maple syrup by 1 tbsp., doubling the mustard, and adding a dash each of hot paprika and Maggi. It's the perfect blend of sweet and tangy.

[poochiechow]

both of those sound phenomenal! i'm absolutely bookmarking these. leaning towards yours for this... although figs are sweet, as someone else noted, i prefer a slight sweetness to dressing rather than too acidy.

thanks!

[spgayle]

Thanks for posting this! I just made a slight variation for a green salad with fig and goat cheese.
Used fig balsamic vinegar, reduced maple, as you did, to 3 Tbsp, also upped the dijon to 1 tsp. and reduced the oil just a bit.
YUM!