Beet, strawberry, and fried mozzarella salad has all the best flavors of summer plus a little indulgence. Beets are cooked up quickly in the Instant Pot and the fried mozzarella is, well, fried. Take a few short cuts to make a complex yet simple beet, strawberry, and fried mozzarella salad.
I know what you may be thinking, “Fried cheese on a salad?” Yeah. Nothing about this is healthy. But I set no fake pretenses about trying to be a healthy blog.
I mean… burrata pasta, doughnuts… You should know what you’re getting from me by now.
I have been trying to cut back on my carb intake lately. You ever notice any time you try to cut something out of your diet, it increases a craving for a different unhealthy food. It’s like a crazy game of Whac-a-Mole. Cut out one vice, another one just pops right up.
For me, what popped up after carb intake went down was cheese. Hence, this salad.
And a little is ok every once in a while. That’s what I tell myself, anyhow.
Another little hitch in this ever shifting balancing food act is that I am sooooo stressed and working under a deadline.
This either causes me to skip meals and then over eat or just basically snack all day long. Can you relate?
I have been all in on my pressure cooker these days. My oven is acting up, plus it turns my boys’ rooms into hot boxes, so the pressure cooker is the easy way to cook beets. Cook them, peel them, then put them in the fridge to chill out for salad time.
While the beets are chilling, bread and fry the mozzarella balls. It is a slightly complicated salad but sooooo worth it.
Slice up some beets and strawberries. Toss them with a little lemon balsamic vinaigrette and arugula. You can still feel like you’re indulging and cheating on a diet while eating all the beet, strawberry, and fried mozzarella salad.
Beet, Strawberry, and Fried Mozzarella Salad
Little balls of fried mozzarella atop a salad of beets, strawberries and arugula with a little drizzle of lemon balsamic vinaigrette.
Ingredients
For the Fried Mozzarella
- 8 oz ciliegine fresh mozzarella drained and dried with paper towels
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt
- pepper
- canola oil
For the salad
- 7 oz arugula
- 1 pint strawberries sliced
- 1 beet
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- Balsamic Syrup drizzle
Instructions
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Place 1 cup of water in the bottom of your Instant Pot. Insert the steamer trivet. Wrap the beet in foil. Place on the trivet. Secure the lid and place the valve in the closed position. Set to High Manual Pressure for 40 minutes. Quick release. Let beet cool completely before handling. I usually just put it right in the fridge still in foil.
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Heat about 2 inches of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or pot until 330 degrees F.
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Set up three shallow pie dishes. In the first one, mix together egg, milk and salt and pepper. In the second one combine flour, salt and pepper. In the third one mix together the breadcrumbs, cheese, salt and pepper.
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Dip the dried off cheese balls into the egg mixture, the flour mixture, the egg again, the flour again, and then finally the breadcrumbs. Transfer each breaded cheese ball to a nearby baking sheet or plate until ready to fry.
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Once the oil reaches 330 degrees, drop 4 balls at a time into the hot oil. Toss around for a few seconds to ensure they don't stick. Keep a close eye, the second you see any cheese oozing out into the oil, remove that ball. Transfer fried balls to a paper towel lined plate.
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Use a few paper towels or a kitchen towel you don't care about to peel back the skin from the cooled beet. Once peeled, thinly slice.
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Assemble salad ingredients, everything except the cheese balls.
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Mix the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper together in a small mixing bowl.
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Toss salad together with a little of the vinaigrette. Top salad with the cheese balls and a little drizzle more of the vinaigrette. Serve right away. Best day of.
