Grilled Peach Salad

We grill often during the summer at our house. I enjoy the nice combination of outdoor cooking, and keeping the kitchen and house a little cool. Plus, hubby always runs the grill, so it's an especially nice break from the kitchen for me! Here's a tasty salad that makes use of the grill. If you've already got the grill going for something, it's easy to toss on a peach or two along with some onions. We had this salad the other night, with grilled chicken skewers. The combination of assertive arugula and tangy goat cheese, along with sweet peaches, is perfect for discerning palates. Hmm, I admit that "discerning palates" is simply a euphemism for saying if someone doesn't like the bold taste of arugula, you might well substitute a sweet lettuce blend or use romaine lettuce.



Ingredients:

2 cups arugula
2 peaches
2 thick slices sweet onion, like Vidalia or Walla Walla
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbs. goat cheese
2 Tbs. toasted hazelnuts or almonds

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Quarter the peaches and discard the pit. Brush the peaches and the onion with the olive oil. Grill until tender and grill marks can be seen on both sides, about 2 minutes per side for the peaches, and about 4 minutes per side for the onions. Make dressing by mixing extra virgin olive oil with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and Dijon mustard. Use a whisk to emulsify the dressing. Remove peaches and onions from grill. Cut onions into smaller pieces. Mound arugula on plate. Top with peaches, onion, cheese, and nuts. Drizzle dressing over salad.

Serves 2.

Stealthy Cooking Tip: Grilling, along with roasting, brings out sweetness. Peaches become even sweeter, and onions become sweetly caramelized. Do heat your fruits and veggies up enough so that you can see the grill marks, but take care not to burn anything on the grill. There's a big difference between the beauty of grill marks, and burnt, charred food. While the difference is clearly visible, it's also been shown that overly charred (read burnt) foods can be unhealthy!