Grilled Peach Salad

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not in denial about summer coming to a close. How could I when there's a certain chill in the air in the mornings and walking my dog in the evenings is much more bearable in this crisper air. But, while there's still summer produce in the markets, I'm going to continue to take advantage of it.

Last weekend, we got a big box of white peaches that smelled incredible and tasted great. I wanted to incorporate some into our dinner, which I was preparing on the grill, so I decided I would make a big, gorgeous salad and make the peaches the star.

Ingredients [serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side]:
1 peach
3 cups baby greens
1 baby cucumber, sliced
½ bell pepper, chopped
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons pepitas (or nuts of your choice)
3 tablespoons golden raisins
2 tablespoons feta cheese
1 slice thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped
1 cup short cut pasta, cooked
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
+ salt & pepper

*This salad can certainly be customized with ingredients that you love.
**I didn't make a recipe page for this post since it's just as simple as assembling the ingredients in a bowl.

Start by slicing up the peace into eights and lay out onto a hot grill for five minutes on each side until you get some nice grill marks and the peach is deliciously tender through.

Prep the rest of the ingredients.

Grab a big salad bowl and place the greens in the bottom. Add in the pasta and then add in the dressing ingredients: the balsamic vinegar, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss together.

Add in the rest of the vegetables, raisins, nuts, and crumble in the cheese and toss together. If you like, reserve some of each ingredient for presentation purposes.

Lay the peaches on top and sprinkle on the reserved ingredients to make the salad look pretty and presentable.

In keeping with the summery theme, we had burgers with this salad.

This salad is delicious and bright and super fresh. I love the mixture of flavors and how it hits all notes on the tongue. The fruit is sweet, the balsamic vinegar is tart, the feta and bacon are salty, the greens are just subtly bitter. It's a lovely, balanced salad that's a perfect side dish but will also make a delicious lunch.

xoxo.