Meatless Meals, Vol 13: Fake Take-Out Version of Nutty Goat Salad

Ah, it feels so good to write a post! Posting has been spotty recently, if you haven't noticed (I know many of you lie awake at night, excited over what I will write next. This blog is just so compelling). Some big things in my life will be coming together over the next few weeks, and once said things settle, I hope to regain some normalcy. This includes cooking new recipes, blogging regularly, and watching quality reruns during Little Chica's nap.

Ah, I love my life.

Anyway, Hubby and I are still going strong in the Meatless Meal arena. We're keeping meat to a minimum in our weekly diets, and not missing it too much. Case in point: Last night, we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Tolteca, for Cinco de Mayo. We were serenaded by an awesome mariachi band while we enjoyed our chicken tacos. And I enjoyed every second of those tacos. Because I'm certain they are sinful. They are far too good.

Now, let us move on to the meatless stuff. I recently used my culinary prowess (insert laughter here) to re-create one of my favorite restaurant salads at home. 'Round these parts, we have a super tasty pizza chain called Peace A Pizza. They have all these neat gourmet pizzas, combinations that would blow your mind. They also have tasty salads. One of these salads is called the Nutty Goat. It's a simple salad involving greens, pecans, craisins and goat cheese.

Mmmm. We ALL know how I feel about goat cheese.

Now, that sounds simple enough, right? Why is this post worthy? Well, first off, it's a great salad. Second, I have found that just because I can pick out the correct ingredients of a salad, it is far more difficult to match the dressing. And the dressing makes a salad.

You can see the conflict.

I happened upon a dressing while grocery shopping recently. And after a taste test, it is the perfect match to the Steph's Version of the Nutty Goat. So I've been eating the salad for lunch every day. While I watch my syndicated reruns. And loving every second of it.

So, if you are a Peace A Pizza fan, and have tried the Nutty Goat, let me know if you think this is a good imitation! If you haven't, just make it and love it. You won't be able to stop eating it.

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Meatless Meals

Steph's Fake Take-Out Version of

Peace A Pizza's Nutty Goat Salad

• 4 cups of mixed salad greens
• 1/2 cup craisins/dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (**)
• 1/2 cup Ken's Steakhouse ::new:: Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette

In a large bowl, top greens with craisins, cheese and pecans. Top by drizzling the dressing over the salad. Serves 4.

** Ken's Steakhouse Creamy Balsamic is what I found at the grocery store, and it was an almost perfect match to the dressing used in the original salad. Feel free to experiment with a different dressing.

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These measurements are approximate. Use more or less according to your tastes! I eat this as a meal with a slab of bread, but this also makes a great side salad.

Would love to hear your thoughts. And keep sending me YOUR Meatless Meal recipes!

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