Oyster, pear and mission fig salad with Green Goddess Dressing

On Friday nights we often just have a salad here at casa Sheep.  It used to be our traditional 'hot date' night when we met after work to go grocery shopping for the week.  Salad was a nice easy thing to make when we finally arrived home close to 8:00 and tired.  Husband is pretty staid in his salad selections but me, I like to shake it up a bit.  I've been on a jag lately of making various Green Goddess dressing recipes in my pursuit of the perfect one.  Tonight's was nice, bright and clean and I'll try it again a day later just to see if the flavours have mellowed nicely.  For the salad I really wanted some fried oysters.  My Mom has been talking about them lately and my craving gene kicked in full force.  So I built this salad on fried oysters and Green Goddess Dressing.  Whatever floats your boat I guess.  I wandered around the produce section at Whole Foods deciding what to include in my salad.  This is what I ended up with.

For the oysters:
Oysters (depends on how many you want)
Cornmeal
salt
pepper
Whole milk
egg
Vegetable or canola oil.

In a bowl, mix the milk and the egg.  in a plastic bag, mix the cornmeal, salt and pepper.  heat enough vegetable or canola oil in a pan to cover an oyster, maybe 1/2 an inch, up to 350 degrees. Put the oysters in the milk and egg mixture and then assemble the salad.  When the salad is ready and the oil is hot take the oysters out of the milk mixture allowing to drain a bit and toss in the bag with the cornmeal.  Shake around until mixed well. Drop 4 - 5 oysters in the oil for a minute or two and drain on paper towels.  Salt each batch lightly as they come out of the oil. 

For the salad
Pear ( I used Comic) - peeled and sliced
Black mission Figs (Fresh, not dried) quartered
Mizuna and mixed greens
shredded carrot
tomato
hothouse cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
Thick slice of a red onion - diced small
2 - scallion (green onion spring onion)
4 slices of goat cheese

Arrange all however your eyes wish on a plate and top with the fried oysters, drizzle with Green Goddess Dressing.