My contribution for this week’s Project Pastry Queen recipe is last week’s Project Pastry Queen recipe. The group is baking up Snow-Tipped Sand Tarts this week. But I’m suffering from the usual post-Thanksgiving food coma burn out so turning on the oven for 5 minutes to roast a small batch of spiced walnuts was really all I could take.

Which is why there are two salad posts in a row. And I can assure you, that has never, ever happened here 🙂

This salad was a super welcome change from the previous day’s road trip food and the calorie-dense spread of Thanksgiving #2. Fresh greens tossed with a standard balsamic vinaigrette and topped with cranberries and spiced walnut-crusted goat cheese rounds. Fresh. Light. And not a block of cream cheese or slice of pie in sight.

You can get the recipe for the spiced walnuts (or pecans, as the original recipe called for), balsamic vinaigrette, and goat cheese rounds over at A Gilt Nutmeg.