Goat Cheese Salad (for when a large chunk of cheese ball just isn't enough)

For dinner tonight, I made a fried goat cheese salad. Now, let me begin by saying that "goat cheese" sounds insanely disgusting. I personally used to picture something congealed and bleating, created only because somewhere, some truly unfortunate soul ran out of cows but REALLY wanted some cheese to put on her nachos. And then, because the universe hates it when people miss out on really awesome cheese, I tasted the most incredible pulled pork and goat cheese nachos in Hawaii and have been in love ever since. Look at how tasty these guys were-even now, I'm drooling:

Yum. Anyway, as soon as my husband and I returned home, I was determined to find additional ways of eating this marvelous cheese (which, as it turns out, can be purchased in the form of a simple log--some even come flavored with herbs for you--and is neither curdle-y nor bleating). And then I saw an episode of 5 Ingredient Fix with a goat cheese salad: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/crispy-goat-cheese-salad-recipe/index.html. Many thanks to Claire Robinson and her awesome timing!

Now, when I made this the first time (yes, this is my second attempt at this recipe), I followed the recipe exactly, and everything was very tasty--but the cheese did not hold its shape well. So this time around, I did the following:

1) Bought a log of goat cheese with herbs already in it (so I did not need to buy a flavored olive oil as the original recipe called for).

2) Cut it into circles (I used a 6 oz. log and cut it into 6 circles, 3 each for my husband and me).

3) Decided that I should continue to avoid the scale for the next couple of days and moved on to step 4.

4) Coated the cheese circles with flour, dipped them in egg, and then covered them in breadcrumbs.

5) Fried them in a half inch of olive oil for a couple minutes on each side (just be sure to watch them, as they brown quickly).

6) And finally, plated them on a bed of lettuce with our dressing of choice (we like ranch, but you can always do a vinaigrette dressing or none at all since goat cheese has a creamier texture).

This time, the circles held their shape marvelously! (Of course, because I am indecisive, I immediately decided I that I preferred the gooey, oh so much healthier baked version that I made the first time. But, these would make for a sophisticated version of the mozzarella stick, I think, and plan to save this preparation method for the future for that purpose.) Enjoy!