This Gorgeous Salad is also Big on Taste!

IMG_7633

There are oodles of wonderful stone fruits available in the summer. People are devouring them by the dozens, trying to enjoy their sublime ripeness while they are at their best. Aside from eating them raw and putting them in an array of desserts such as crumbles, cobblers, tarts and pies, they are grilling them, making ice cream and sorbet with them; the list goes on. Detouring to the savory side of things, I created a salad with them that resulted in the most Gorgeous Display ever!

20160730_185004

There is a fine line between ripe and over-ripe when it comes to stone fruit such as peaches, plums and nectarines. For this recipe it is best to use them when they still have a bit of crunch to them and are not overly ripe. There is no need to peel them, especially if you are using fresh grown local fruit as the skins are usually quite thin. I section the fruit into thin wedges and let it macerate (soften in liquid) in a bowl with some aged balsamic vinegar, a bit of sugar and a nice dose of freshly ground pepper. Let it sit for an hour or two to extract all the wonderful juices and allow them to marry with the marinade.

20160730_191049

For my salad, I used a variety of fruit that was available to me from my own fruit trees and my Talley Farms CSA box. I added some locally sourced cherries when plating the salad to add a burst of color and a wonderful explosion of flavor. The fruit was served over a bed a baby arugula lightly dressed with lemon juice & olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Intermingled with the fruit atop of the salad were succulent chunks of Burrata cheese. A drizzle of balsamic glaze on top put the finishing touch! Decadent and tantalizing is how I would describe this salad. It was amazing!!

20160730_185004

Stone Fruit Salad with Burrata

Serves 6

Ingredients
  • 4 peaches or nectarines or a combination of both
  • 1/2 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
  • 1 large bunch arugula
  • 3-4 balls burrata cheese, cut into quarters
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, separated
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Balsamic glaze
Instructions
  1. Clean and cut peaches/nectarines into 1/2″ wedges. Place in a bowl with balsamic vinegar, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss lightly to coat. Let the fruit macerate for at least one hour.
  2. In a separate bowl, toss the arugula with lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  3. To serve, lay the arugula on a long platter. Distribute the macerated fruit and cherries down the center of the platter on top of the arugula. Place the burrata chunks in and around the fruit. Drizzle the salad with balsamic glaze and a sprinkle of fresh pepper.
Notes
  • The reason I don’t mix the cherries in with the fruit to macerate is that I want to keep some color variation in the salad to make it look vibrant.

(click here) for printable recipe

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)