Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Roasted Fig Arugula Salad with Cornbread Croutons

Salads

I recently checked out Upstairs on the Square with these lovely ladies and enjoyed a grilled halumi and fig salad nestled in a cornmeal crepe. I loved this combination of flavors and when I scored some fresh figs the other day at Costco, I immediately put them to use in this plate of greens.

My salad was a mix of arugula, sweet honey roasted figs, and salty pecorino romano cheese with a light balsamic vinaigrette. To add some crunch, I made a batch of cornbread croutons with pecorino romano mixed in the batter. Only half the batch made it in the salad (oops..), but I think any more would have been overkill anyway. I can’t remember where I first saw cornbread croutons, but it’s such a great idea and now I want to experiment with other quick bread croutons – maybe pumpkin now that there’s a chill in the air!

Roasted Fig Arugula Salad with Cornbread Croutons
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Cornbread Croutons
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

Roasted Figs
2 pounds figs, stemmed and cut in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Salad Assembly
10 ounces baby arugula
1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette
4 ounces shaved pecorino romano cheese

Directions:
To make the cornbread croutons, heat oven to 350˚F. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together butter, eggs, and buttermilk in a large bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until most of the lumps are dissolved and then stir in cheese. Pour the batter into a greased 8×8-inch square pan. Bake at 350˚F for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely, about an hour, and cut into crouton-sized cubes. Heat oven to 400˚F and place cubes on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 400˚F, then flip over the cubes and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely, about 20 minutes.

To make the roasted figs, heat oven to 400˚F. Place figs on a large cookie sheet cut side up. Drizzle figs evenly with honey and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Roast at 400˚F for 15 to 20 minutes.

To assemble the salad, place arugula, balsamic vinaigrette, shaved pecorino romano, roasted figs, and half the cornbread croutons in a large bowl and toss until well mixed. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 510 calories, 20.5g fat, 5.5g fiber, 15.6g protein per serving
Cost: $2.45 per serving

Peach Salad with Pecan Chicken and Gorgonzola

"Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches, I'm movin' to the country, I'm gonna eat me a lot of peaches....If I had my little way, I'd eat peaches every day"...especially now that they're in season! There's nothing quite like a fresh peach that is so ripe the...

Asparagus Arugula Salad with Ricotta and Goat Cheese

Time for our anniversary trip recap! Apolinaras and I got married over Memorial Day weekend in 2004 and we always try to take a little vacation over the holiday weekend to celebrate. This year we went to Portland, Maine, which is a super fun foodie destination right...

Roasted Beet, Mango, and Avocado Spinach Salad

My problem on weekends is that I tend to sleep in until after noon and then half the day is already gone! Plus, then I end up not being able to fall asleep until very late on Sunday night, which makes it hard to get up on Monday morning. But, I struggle to change this...

Summer Spinach Salad with Red Pepper Dressing

I recently noticed that while I've posted over 25 desserts, there's only one lonely salad hanging out in my recipe index. Aww, poor salad. It's funny because although I actually always enjoy digging into a lovely pile of greens at a restaurant, I’ve never quite gotten...

Honey Mustard Spinach Salad with Chicken Quinoa Cakes and Saucy Mama Mustard Giveaway

It’s been almost 10 months since I’ve entered a recipe contest, how sad is that? I tend to pick posting on my blog over entering contests, but I wish there were more hours in the day to do it all! I recently came across the Skinny Mama Cooking with Mustard Contest, a...

Southwestern Mini Meatball Salad

For a couple of years, I was in the habit of buying pre-washed salad mixes. You know, the kind that come in a bag or plastic box. This lead to the donation of our OXO salad spinner to the Good Will, because it was just sitting there collecting dust and taking up...

Apple Spinach Salad with Maple Walnuts

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I’m so excited! I’ve never cooked for the holiday before and I can’t wait to finally take a stab at roasting a turkey. We bought all our groceries this weekend (except the turkey, which we’ll picking up Wednesday from this...

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad with Grapes

My lab headed over to Sweet Cheeks in Fenway to stuff ourselves with BBQ for lunch one day last week. The restaurant was recently opened by Tiffani Faison, who was a finalist on both Top Chef Season 1 and Top Chef All-Stars. You can probably guess that I was...