Sunday, July 27, 2008

Summer-time Peach Salad

Wow. It really has been ages since I posted. To be honest, I haven't been cooking much (or anything that I have cooked has been stuff already posted) and for whatever reason, I also haven't had the heart to cook lately. In any case, I had a glimmer of inspiration today, and put together a salad that I think you will enjoy - it's fresh, it's simple, and each bite has a taste of summer in it.

Ingredients:
3 handfuls of spring mix salad
1 large yellow peach (any variety), relatively firm
1 Armenian cucumber
2-3 tablespoons Feta cheese
1 lemon
1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Utensils:
1 medium sized bowl; 1 sharp knife; 1 lemon juicing device

Prep work:
1) Juice the lemon, set aside.

Instructions:
Add your handful of mixed greens to the bowl. Take your knife and cut your peach in half, twisting each half in opposite directions so they split apart. Take one half, and slice it to make 2 quarters. Cut along the edge of the peaches to create thin slices; you should be able to get about 6-8 thin slices out of one quarter. Set aside the other half of the peach. Add the sliced peaches to the salad in the bowl.

Take the cucumber, and slice it thinly on a bias. Add them to the salad. Take your feta and crumble it into the salad if it is not already crumbled. Add a few turns of the salt+pepper mills to your salad, and add both the lemon juice and the olive oil. Toss very well to ensure proper coating of the dressing.

*You can substitute the feta for another kind of cheese, such as a mild goat cheese or thin slices of parmesean. Some toasted almonds or walnuts would also make a nice addition.