Blackberry Goat Cheese Salad

Description

Prepare to dive into one of the best salads you’ll ever make!  My Blackberry and Goat Cheese salad is so versatile and easy to make, you can serve it as a weeknight dinner with a good loaf of bread, or as a side for a holiday dinner.  Either way you make this salad, you’ll find it to be a nutritious salad that is just bursting with flavor. Fresh blackberries give this salad a bright burst of fruity flavor that is complemented by creamy goat cheese along with the nuttiness and crunch of the pecans.  Toss it together with my balsamic vinaigrette, and you’ll be going back for seconds!   I first made this salad after taking my kids to our local blackberry patch where I was inspired to make something savory with all the fresh berries we picked.  Going blackberry picking is one of our favorite summer traditions, and the last time we went it was even more memorable than usual.  We arrived at our usual farm that we frequent every summer, got our buckets, and it was business as usual as we hit the fields and began filling our buckets.  As usual,  my kids were shoveling fresh berries off the vine into their mouths instead of filling their buckets, so I diligently worked at picking berries since the day was getting very hot and very humid.  As I wiped the sweat from my eyes, I spotted the most perfect cluster of berries when something flashy caught my eye.  Carefully, I reached through the bush so that I wouldn’t get scratched by the thorns, and you know what I found?  The wallet of a very famous person!  Just to set the record straight, I didn’t go opening the wallet or anything, they just happened to have their name embossed on the outside in the most sparkly golden thread.  At any rate, I looked all around me and just not too far from us,in the most inconspicuous hat and sunglasses combo was the celebrity I’d seen many times on film and also who the wallet belonged to.  I played it super cool and approached them to return their wallet and before I knew it, I was sharing my recipe for my Blackberry and Goat Cheese salad.  Now, I promised them I would keep it a secret who’s wallet I had found, but I will never forget such a pleasant encounter at the local blackberry patch.