Summer Peach Salad

Enjoy peach season while it lasts and make this easy and delicious summer peach salad with honey vinaigrette.

There is a peach stand about twenty minutes from here that I look forward to every single summer. They open in late June and I always buy more than two people can reasonably eat. My favorite way to have a peach is standing over the kitchen sink with the juice running down my arm, but that is not something I can serve at the table. This peach salad is the next best thing.

The combination sounds simple because it is — ripe peaches, peppery arugula or spring mix, blue cheese, toasted pecans, a honey vinaigrette that takes about two minutes to shake together in a jar. The blue cheese is non-negotiable for me — that salty, tangy dressing it creates when it meets the honey vinaigrette is exactly the point. If you want something milder, creamy goat cheese or fresh mozzarella both work beautifully, but I would try it with the blue cheese first. It is my favorite summer salad for a reason.

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What You Need to Make Summer Peach Salad

Making this salad is easy, you just need a few simple ingredients, including juicy peaches.

• 8-10 cups spring mix salad or arugula
• 2 peaches sliced
• 1/4 cup red onion thinly sliced
• 2 ounces blue cheese crumbled
• 1/3 cup toasted pecans roughly chopped

Basic Vinaigrette

• 3/4 to 1 cup olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or any good-tasting oil
  1/4 cup good-tasting vinegar or lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

How to Assemble Peach Salad

Place salad mix onto plate or into a salad bowl, the add the peach slices, onions, pecans and the blue cheese crumbles. Add vinaigrette and enjoy!

Place all ingredients into a jar or a small bowl. If using a jar, simply shake the ingredients until combined. If using a whisk, simply whisk rapidly until mixture comes together. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Variations

• Substitute feta cheese, creamy goat cheese or fresh mozzarella
• Not a fan of pecans, add chopped pistachios, walnuts, pumpkin seeds or any other nuts and seed that you like
• Add additional stone fruits like plums and nectarines
• Use, Butter lettuce, Romain lettuce or spinach
• For the dressing, white wine vinegar or a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette are both excellent substitutes for the lemon juice — each brings something slightly different, so it is worth trying both over the course of peach season.

Need more chopped salads? Try my strawberry and fresh herb salad  or roasted sweet potato spinach salad with maple candied walnuts.

Looking for peach recipes? I have lots on the blog, including Italian Peach coffee cake and peach blueberry crisp.

This is the salad I make when I want something that feels a little special without much effort. Peach season is short — here in North Carolina it is really only a few weeks of truly good ones — and this is one of my favorite ways to use them before they are gone.

Do you have a favorite way to eat a peach? I am asking sincerely — a reader once told me she slices them into sweet tea and I have been thinking about that ever since.

You can also keep up with me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. And last but not least, if you like Pinecones & Acorns share it with a friend!

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Summer Peach Salad

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Enjoy peach season while it lasts and make this easy and delicious summer peach salad with honey vinaigrette.

• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

8–10 cups spring mix salad or arugula

2 ripe peaches, sliced

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

2 ounces blue cheese crumbled

1/3 cup toasted pecans roughly chopped

Honey Vinaigrette

3/4 to 1 cup olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or any good-tasting oil

1/4 cup good-tasting vinegar or lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Place the mixed salad greens or peppery arugula onto large platter or into a big bowl. Then add the fresh peaches, and red onions on top of the greens. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and the blue cheese crumbles. Drizzle with the homemade vinaigrette or set on the side to dress your own individual salad.

Place all vinaigrette ingredients except the olive oil into a mason jar or small bowl. If using a jar, shake until combined. If using a bowl, whisk in the olive oil in a slow steady stream until the dressing comes together. Taste and adjust salt or honey. In a small skillet over medium-low heat, toast the pecans for 2-3 minutes stirring until fragrant — watch them, they go fast. Spread on a plate to cool before adding to the top of the salad. Store leftover dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

• Author: Elizabeth
• Prep Time: 10
• Category: Side
• Cuisine: American