February 9: Cheesecake Salad????

You heard me; it's dessert, it's salad, and it is delicious!
Yesterday I ate some gluten-free lemon poppyseed cake, and it was lovely. Unfortunately, my tyrant of a stomach had some strong objections (it hates grains of all kinds). However, it got me thinking about lemon poppyseed dressing, which I haven't bought in a long while. I was on the move again anyway, going from my parents' house to my son's, so I decided to stop along the way and do some shopping.Because my diet is so specific, it's just better for everyone if I bring my own food when I visit people. My son has four (very cute) kids, and I can't expect him and my daughter-in-law to cater to me.

I went to Thrifty Foods in Duncan, BC. Thrifty is a smaller, upscale grocery chain has been on Vancouver Island for decades, and has recently expanded to mainland BC. It has, I am told, the best birthday cakes anywhere, and a solid reputation for quality and variety. I didn't buy too much, but I had fun looking at all the neat stuff. I found some lovely organic lettuce and  a house brand Citron Honey Poppyseed dressing (on sale!) that looked great. Then I went looking for goat cheese.

This kind was on a 2-for-one sale, and I can't resist a good sale. Cranberry cinammon sounded a bit on the wild side, but I dedided to be brave and give it a try. Good choice! It's a rich, sweet cheese covered in soft cranberries, with the tiniest hint of cinammon. Combined with the sweet citrus dressing and some surprisingly tasty strawberries (surprising because they are imported from Mexico- a long way for berries to travel), it gave me the perfect dessert salad, and reminded me quite a lot of cheesecake. However, it was light and refreshing and not sickeningly sweet, and it left me feeling satisified, not sick and guilty. So, definitely NOT cheesecake, but a marvelous dessert, if you are adventurous enough to try it.


Recipe: Toss together oak-leaf lettuce, strawberries, chunks of cranberry cinammon goat cheese, and lemon poppyseed dressing. Top with freshly toasted cashews.

Toast the cashew by placing them on a flat, ovenproof dish and placing them in a cold oven. Set the oven to 385 F, and take the nuts out as soon as the oven reaches that temp. I like to throw them on the salad right away and hear them sizzle on the dressing.