Ontario peaches are once again winning this season, and they’re at their peak right now. I think it’s fair to say that I can’t go a summer without sharing something peach-related with you all (examples here, and here). So since this is obviously becoming a yearly event, here is your 3rd Annual “You’d Best Get On The Peach Train Before It’s Gone” Recipe.
We’re lucky enough to have friends with cottages, and even luckier to have a close group of friends that care about making and eating good food as much as we do. Each year, we make a pilgrimage to my friend Sarah’s cottage, armed with shoddy directions (“every time the road forks, go left, except for the fourth and seventh turn” or “there’s a painted rock on the left — don’t turn there!”), with car trunks stuffed full with groceries. Everyone pairs off and is responsible for one meal, and since you put all your effort into one project, everyone shows off a little bit. It also means you eat like kings all weekend.
This summer we took on a brunch meal, and this sweet-meets-savoury salad was born to accompany a variety of grilled sausages and scrambled eggs. At the time, the local peaches weren’t even at their optimum ripeness, but grilling the peaches adds caramelization and softens the fruit, so you really could make this all summer long. Arrange those peaches on a bed of peppery arugula, with some crunchy almonds and sharp, salty feta cheese, and you’ve got a real show-off salad with very little effort. Throw some grilled chicken on top and you’ve got yourself a meal.
Tips and Substitutions: Get firm, ripe peaches, as overripe ones will fall apart on your grill. Nectarines would also be delicious. You can substitute any salad green you like, but the arugula really works with the peaches so I recommend using it. You could try this with pecans or walnuts, even pine nuts. For the feta, the creamy Bulgarian type is my favourite complement to the peaches, but I would imagine goat cheese or ricotta salata would also do well here. To boost this salad up even more, fry up a few pieces of bacon until crispy and crumble over the salad before serving, and swap a few tablespoons of the bacon fat for the olive oil in the dressing.
Grilled Peach Salad With Arugula and Feta
Serves 4-6
3 firm, ripe peaches
⅓ cup slivered almonds
5 oz baby arugula
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
Fresh ground pepper
For dressing, whisk the following together until emulsified:
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar
2 tsp honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon grainy or Dijon mustard
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat grill to medium. Cut each peach with a knife around the pit, then twist gently to separate into two halves. Remove pit. Brush each peach half with vegetable oil. Grill peaches 2-3 minutes per side. Remove to a bowl. (Tip: throw some of the juices from the peaches into your salad dressing!)
2. Toast almonds gently in a pan until golden brown and remove to cool.
3. When peaches have cooled and just before serving, toss together arugula with dressing and transfer to a large serving platter. Sprinkle almonds and feta over the greens, then arrange peaches evenly on top of the salad. Garnish with fresh pepper and serve.
Sara Chan is a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer, food enthusiast, unprofessional home chef and even less professional food photographer. Her favourite food group is pork.