Recipe: Green Salad with Dried Cherries, Caramelized Hazelnuts, and Fresh White Goat Cheese

Makes 6 to 8 servings

For the hazelnuts

2 cups shelled hazelnuts

1 tablespoon hazelnut oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the dried-cherry vinaigrette:

1 cup dried tart cherries

3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons water

6 tablespoons toasted hazelnut oil or olive oil

For the salad:

1/2 pound (about 8 cups) watercress, baby spinach or arugula, washed, spun, and chilled

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (4-ounce) log fresh white goat cheese, crumbled

1. To prepare the caramelized hazelnuts: Toast the hazelnuts in a 350-degree oven until they smell toasty, then, while they are warm, rub the toasted hazelnu

ts to remove most of their papery skins. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, stir hazelnut oil, sugar, salt and water until mixture is foamy. Stir in the toasted hazelnuts, then transfer nuts to a sheet pan and spread them out in a single layer to cool. You will only need about a cup of the nuts for the salad, but as long as you are going through the process, you might as well toast the extras. Store the extras in an airtight container to serve as a snack.

2. To make the vinaigrette: Heat the cherries with the vinegar and water over medium heat, and when most of the liquid has evaporated, stir in the oil and remove the mixture from the heat. Set aside.

3. Just before serving, toss the greens with the dried-cherry mixture, tossing to lightly coat every leaf; sprinkle the dressed greens with salt and pepper. Distribute the dressed greens evenly between the salad plates and top each plate with caramelized hazelnuts and crumbled goat cheese.

Note: Once it's on the plate, this salad looks like it took a lot of effort. The balance of sweet and salty makes it a perfect segue from savory dishes to dessert. We like a green with a little bite, like peppery watercress or arugula; for a milder salad, opt for baby spinach leaves. To make it simpler, you might replace the caramelized hazelnuts with candied walnuts available in supermarket aisles, and replace the white goat cheese with crumbled blue cheese.

From Greg Atkinson