I don’t know about you, but I don’t like flimsy, flavorless, colorless salads. Why waste my time chewing on damp iceberg lettuce topped with a few tasteless cold tomatoes and 9 sprigs of julienne carrots? No, thank you.
(Okay confession, I eat it more than I like to admit. When on the road, sometimes it’s the only non canola oil-soaked vegetable option.)
Salads don’t have to be that depressing.
Salads can be big, filling, beautiful, and bursting with flavor! They can be interesting, craveable, and can satisfy even the manliest of appetites (ahem …yours truly).
My second ode-to-fresh-peaches recipe is this gorgeous grilled peach and fennel salad. My first was the Sparkling Peach Sangria. They go well together. Just saying.
If you haven’t before, I encourage you to experiment with grilled fruit. It can completely change the texture and flavor in a fun and interesting way.
For this jaw-dropping summer salad, I topped a big bed of fresh arugula with some warm grilled peach halves, fresh fennel, and toasted pine nuts. I finished the salad with a bright and flavorful homemade lemon vinaigrette.
The lemon offsets the semi-licorice flavor of the fennel and after you taste the toasted pine nuts with the grilled peach, you’ll wonder how you ever settled for anything less.
Enjoy!
Ladies and gentlemen, start your grills (or grill pans). After that, chop some semi-firm peaches in half and remove the pit.
Coat the peach halves in a bit of melted extra virgin coconut oil (EVCO). Place them on a hot grill and let them cook for 3 – 5 minutes. The EVCO helps to keep them from sticking too badly. I recommend you use a large metal spatula to scrape them off when they’re finished cooking.
I don’t have a picture of the grilled peaches in action because …well, Austin grilled them for me. There were too many mosquitos and I was being a baby. I chose to stay inside and make Sparkling Peach Sangria instead. 🙂
Thinly slice a fennel bulb. Pretty? This is such a fun veggie to experiment with.
Next, grab a small handful of the fronds of the fennel and give it a rough chop too. They’re wonderfully aromatic and make for a great salad garnish.
Over medium/high heat, toast your raw pine nuts. Be sure to keep them moving in the pan and don’t let them burn. Remove from heat when they’re toasted and fragrant.
Add about ½ a cup of fresh lemon juice to ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Shake it together for your dressing. That simple?! Yes. If you don’t use it all at once, it keeps well covered in the fridge.
Plate the arugula with the fennel bulb slices, grilled peach halves, toasted pine nuts, fennel fronds, fresh cracked black pepper (if you like) and drizzle with your fresh dressing.
Enjoy!
Grilled Peach & Fennel Salad
Ingredients
- 4 Semi-Firm Peaches
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Coconut Oil Melted {EVCO}
- 4 cups Fresh Arugula
- 1 Fennel Bulb {w/Fronds}
- 1/4 cup Raw Pine Nuts
- 1/2 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil {EVOO}
- Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to Taste
Instructions
- Halve and de-pit the peaches.
- Coat them in the melted coconut oil and place on hot grill {or grill pan} for 3-5 minutes, cut side down. When they’re finished, scrape them off with a large metal spatula to ensure minimal sticking.
- Thinly slice the fennel bulb.
- Roughly chop about 1 Tbl of fennel fronds.
- Toast pine nuts in a saucepan over medium/high heat, being careful not to burn them.
- In a small jar, shake the fresh lemon juice with the EVOO.
- Plate the arugula topped with the fennel bulb slices, grilled peach halves, toasted pine nuts, fennel fronds, and lemon vinaigrette.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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What a delicious recipe! I really liked how the peach & fennel flavors complimented each other. I didn’t have pine nuts on hand so I used sunflower seeds, which was good too.
I’m so glad you liked it, Penny! Sunflower seeds sounds like a great substitute! I’ll have to use them next time I make this salad.
This is my kind of salad – love the fennel!
Thank you! Fennel is one of my favorites too.
Grilling fruit is simple but adds so much flavor! I can’t wait for fresh peaches this year, and I love the fennel and peach combo. I will have to take you up on the sangria suggestion too- yum!
I agree! Grilled fruit has such an intense flavor and is so easy. I hope you like the salad and the sangria!