At Aroha Restaurant in Westlake, California, Chef Gwithyen Thomas serves this salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts. As a nod to New Zealand’s long tradition of sheep farming, we’ve substituted sheep’s milk farmer’s cheese (or ricotta) for the goat cheese, and pistachios for the candied walnuts. <br /> <br />There’s a lot going on in this simple salad—sweet fresh berries, tangy cheese, bitter salad greens—but there is a wine versatile enough to stand up to all of these elements. A fruiter, New World-style New Zealand rosé (we paired the <a href="http://www.villamariawine.com/wines/product-details/filter/wine-tiers/private-bin/villa-maria-private-bin-hawkes-bay-rose">Villa Maria Private Bin Rosé</a> with it), rather than a dry, pale Provençal rendition, would fit the bill nicely: Forward berry aromatics and flavors in the wine will echo those of the salad’s strawberries, and light vanilla/cream notes in the wine will marry nicely with the vinaigrette’s fresh vanilla bean flavor. Arugula’s peppery bite reins in the sweetness and creaminess nicely.

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