Bread Salad with Cherries, Arugula, and Goat Cheese

This is one of those recipes that must be served only in its season and since the cherry season is so short, I relish the salad all the more. There is something about knowing I won't be able to eat it again until next summer that makes it taste even better. If you aren't a die-hard fan of arugula, supplement it with some lettuce, although the contrast of the sweet and bitter is remarkable.

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Bread Salad with Cherries, Arugula, and Goat Cheese

Adapted from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
serves 4 as a side or 2 as a light meal

The amounts of the ingredients are flexible. 

6 ounces rustic bread, preferably day-old
Olive oil
1/2 pound cherries, halved and pitted
1/8 teas pressed or crushed garlic
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Arugula
Fresh goat cheese
Black pepper

Remove the crusts from the bread and tear the bread into bite-size pieces. You should have about 4 cups. Drizzle the bread with olive oil and toss. Toast the bread either in the oven at 400F for 8-10 minutes or in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Chop about 1/3 of the cherries and smash them a bit with a fork and set aside.

When the bread is toasted turn it into a large bowl and while hot add the garlic and toss well. Allow it to cool a few minutes then add the cherries, the chopped and the halved. Toss. Add 2 teas balsamic vinegar and toss again. Add 1 T olive oil and toss once more. Taste and add more vinegar or oil if needed and add salt and pepper to taste. Add about 2 handfuls of arugula and toss one last time. Place salad on plates and top generously with crumbed goat cheese.

Note from Colette:

You can prepare the toast a few hours ahead up to the point of adding the garlic. Add the vinegar and oil and cherries just before serving.