When the sun sets on another scorching summer day, the last thing anyone wants to do is go home and slave over a stovetop or roasting hot oven. Why not take advantage of the summertime and create a delicious, healthy, and filling salad with everyone’s favorite fruit, the peach?
Peaches taste great; I didn’t want to ruin the aroma and texture by sautéing, boiling, or caramelizing them. Instead, I opted to create a unique and fresh summer salad. The key to a successful experience in the kitchen, as with any of our recipes, is fruit selection and preparation. Getting peaches direct from an orchard or farmer’s market will not only provide the freshest and often times biggest fruit, but it’s usually easier to find fruit that’s ripe.
When you’re slicing Peaches, you want to find some that are still slightly firm so that it doesn’t turn to mush as soon as you take your first cut. It also is tremendously helpful to pick out a freestone peach variety.
Creating this delicate salad could not be easier. None of the steps take more than a few minutes, and if you have any experience using the most basic kitchen utensils, you should be fine. The lack of cooking also means that it’s pretty much impossible to mess up this recipe.
While this is a salad and could be used as a side dish as part of a larger meal, it more than holds its own as a complete meal due to the walnuts and peaches. The combination of flavors and textures help create balance, and while this salad is all about the Peaches, they are not over powering.
Try this amazing salad today and you will realize why the peach is quite possibly the best fruit of the summer.
Dressing Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons walnut oil
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salad Ingredients
• Leaves of red butter lettuce
• 3-4 ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
• 1 tablespoon minced red onion
• 2 tablespoons slivered walnuts, toasted
Directions
1. Whisk the oil into the vinegar until emulsified. Set the dressing aside.
2. Arrange the butter lettuce on a chilled serving plate. Arrange the peach slices on the lettuce. Sprinkle with onions and walnuts. Spoon the dressing over the salad just before serving.
