Citrus and Goat Cheese Green Salad (Mendocino Copycat)

A salad bowl with sliced grilled chicken, mixed greens, orange segments, red onions, nuts, seeds, and a scoop of herb butter, all drizzled with dressing.

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Citrus and Goat Cheese Green Salad (Mendocino Copycat)

I have been obsessed with this salad for YEARS. It is a copycat recipe of the "Seasonal Goat Salad" they have at Mendocino Farms, one of my favorite lunch spots. It has a mix of greens and torn fresh mint. It's topped with orange segments, tender rotisserie chicken, sliced fennel and pickled onions, and crushed honey-roasted almonds. Then you add a huge scoop of herbed goat cheese that melts into the salad, and douse the whole thing in hot honey and balsamic vinaigrette. IT'S. INCREDIBLE. I can't stop.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 496kcal

Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

8 ounces Romaine lettuce chopped (about 8 cups)
8 ounces spring mix (about 8 cups)
4 leaves kale cut from the stalks and chopped
1 large fennel bulb sliced very thin
1 bunch mint leaves torn off the stems
4 navel oranges sliced
1 cup honey roasted almonds roughly chopped
2 (4-ounce) packages herb crusted goat cheese
3 tablespoons heavy cream or half and half, or milk
1 batch Pickled Red Onions
1 batch Balsamic Vinaigrette or use store bought
1/4 cup hot honey
2 cooked chicken breasts from a rotisserie chicken
crushed red pepper to garnish, if you like it spicy!

Instructions

Prepare the Pickled Onions: Do this a few hours ahead of time if possible, so that the onions can get really pink and pickled. (Even 30 minutes of pickling is still really good though.) Here is the link to my Pickled Onions recipe.
Prepare the Balsamic Vinaigrette: I'm in love with my homemade recipe for Balsamic Vinaigrette, tap the link for the recipe. This can be prepared a few weeks in advance. I love to keep it on hand!
Soften the goat cheese. Start by opening up a total of 4 ounces of herbed goat cheese.* Add it to a bowl and let it come to room temperature while you prepare everything else.
Chop 8 ounces (about 8 cups) of romaine lettuce and divide between 4 serving plates.
Divide 8 ounces (about 8 cups) of spring mix lettuce among the 4 serving plates.
Prep the kale: Use a knife to slice out the stems of 4 leaves of kale. Chop the kale into bite size pieces and divide evenly among the 4 plates.
Slice the fennel: Remove the leaves and stem from the fennel. Slice the bulb in half, then use a knife to remove the core (see photos). Place the bulb cut-side-down on the cutting board and slice very thinly. Divide all of the fennel between the 4 plates.
Prep the mint: Tear the leaves off the stems. Tear any larger leaves in half, or chop into large pieces. Divide the mint between the 4 plates.
Dress the greens and fennel on each plate with Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Prep the oranges. Use a knife to remove the peels from 4 navel oranges. Slice the orange in half, and then slice into bite size pieces. Divide the oranges between plates. Each plate should get 1 whole orange, sliced.
Prep the honey roasted almonds. Add 1 cup honey roasted almonds to a food processor and pulse until the nuts are roughly chopped and there is a fine layer of "almond dust." Some of this dust is sugar. It's so good!! Add 1/4 cup chopped nuts to each plate.
Prep the chicken: I love to use rotisserie chicken for this salad. Remove the two breasts from the chicken and remove the skin. Slice the breasts thinly against the grain, see photos. Divide the chicken evenly between the plates.
Goat cheese: Add 2-3 tablespoons milk, cream, or half and half to the herbed goat cheese in the bowl. Stir it together until it is smooth and creamy, adding more milk/cream as needed. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to dollop 1/4 of the goat cheese onto each plate.
Your pickled onions should be turning pink. Add a healthy spoonful to each plate (about 1/4 cup or more; just the onions, not the pickling juice.)
Hot honey: drizzle each plate with hot honey.
Sprinkle with crushed red pepper, if you like it spicy. Drizzle with more balsamic vinaigrette.
Devour immediately!! Enjoy your summertime salad bliss!

Notes

*If you can't find herbed goat cheese, no big deal! Use 4 ounces of regular goat cheese and stir in 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning.

Nutrition