Enjoy the decadence and simplicity of this delicious healthy Vanilla Fig Balsamic Salad. This recipe is quick and easy to prepare and can become a staple in your diet. The ensemble in this recipe  – vanilla, cherry, fig, honey, goat cheese and walnuts – creates a concert of exceptional American flavors.

Ingredients:
Choose quantities according to the amount of people being served and desired taste.
– Very American Salad Mix: iceberg, romaine and red cabbage.
(Trader Joe’s provides a product with this mix called, Les Salades du Midi)
– Dried Pitted Tart Montmorency Cherries.
(Trader Joe’s sells them)
– Walnut Baking Pieces
(Trader Joe’s California Walnut Baking Pieces is convenient and good)
– Honey Goat Cheese (best with white clover honey)
(Trader Joe’s Chevre with Honey will do the trick)
– Salt Crystals to grind over the salad (or sea salt)
(Trader Joe’s Himalayan Pink Salt Crystals is a great choice to use)
– Gourmet Blends Vanilla Fig Balsamic
– Gourmet Blends Basil Olive Oil or extra virgin olive oil
> variations: use fresh cherries, one of our other balsamics or balsamic and oil pairings or omit olive oil or salt.

Instructions:
Place salad mix in a large salad bowl. One that is enjoyable for tossing and/or serving in. Use as much salad as you want. Add dried cherries and walnut baking pieces. Add these two ingredients in proportion to the quantity of the salad mix and according to your desired taste. Pour Gourmet Blends Vanilla Fig Balsamic over the top of the salad. Be sure to spread the pour around and across the top of the salad. Next, in the same way, pour our Gourmet Blends Basil Olive Oil or substitute it with extra virgin olive oil. Use a 4 to 2 ratio of our Vanilla Fig Balsamic to your choice of olive oil.  For a more harmonious salad use the Gourmet Blends Basil Olive Oil.  To give the salad a nice and natural pepperiness use extra virgin olive oil. Toss thoroughly so that all the leaves have the balsamic on them. Make the toss a great zen moment. (a little bit of our balsamic goes a long way with a good toss and a good toss makes every bite taste to perfection.)  Now ignite the dish flavors by grinding salt over the top of the salad (too your liking) and then toss salad once again to ensure the salt reaches each leaf and/or enhances every salad bite. Conduct your next step to heighten your salad tasting experience. Place dollops of Honey Goat Cheese over the salad mix and give the salad final light tosses to strategically place the cheese throughout the salad. Voila! Well done Maestro. Now plate your salad. Bon Appétit!

From the kitchen of Liam Blume… a founder of the Candle Cafe in NYC, Publisher of itmagazine.org, and President of Brand Awakening – a marketing consulting group based out Los Angeles, CA.