Summer Simplicity: Peach, Basil and Red Onion Salad
I used to get irritated when the summer lifestyle magazines started showing up in my mailbox. An apartment-dweller with no outdoor space to speak of (save for a rickety fire escape) can go a little batty from so many recipes that use the grill. I could not simply throw a cob of corn and a beautiful piece of fish on the grill and call it dinner. And yet those slick magazine pages continued to sing a refrain about summer cooking being so simple, so effortless; I just didn’t get it. If anything, trying to figure out how to eat something substantial for supper without warming up the entire apartment seemed like it required an advance degree.
And then my wonderful aunts and uncles gave me an indoor two-burner grill pan, and I started to see the light. I hate to say that a piece of specialty equipment can make life easier, but in some cases it’s just the plain truth, (See: food processor.) I get that “summer simplicity” now: I throw something on the grill, make a salad, and dinner is ready in 15 minutes. Moreover, it feels grown-up and relaxed, like a woman with real standards and know-how was in charge of this dinner, instead of just post-work, grouchy me. And this is when I start to wax about the ability of a certain recipe to bring out the best in you, but really, it’s true. A simple, wonderful dinner can be elevating: it can help you shed the bleary-eyed, email-beset, hunched-shoulder workhorse stance, take a deep breath, and feel like a human again. A human who revels in the delights of summer––like juicy, ripe peaches––and throws together easily elegant salads like this one. Creative, seasonal, healthy––you’ll feel like some kind of genius.
This salad even works with peaches that are slightly underripe and still a little firm. Serve with grilled, sliced skirt steak, chicken, or a pile of shrimp. It really can be that easy.
Peach, Basil and Red Onion Salad
from Martha Stewart Living
serves 4
3 peaches, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh basil (leaves torn if large)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Toss peaches with red onion, basil, lemon juice, salt, and some pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.
Priyanka: A very refreshing salad…the pic is perfect42 weeks ago
Thanks so much! Photography is always something I’m trying to figure out….42 weeks ago
EB: “like a woman with real standards” hahahahhahah. Out of my head… now.42 weeks ago
Margaret: I totally know how you feel, Sarah! My regular reading habits of my Bon Appetit and Real Simple recipes include the command to “Skip to Next Recipe” whenever I see the words “Grill” or “Stiff Peaks”- although I may have to alter that habit. I recently got a hand mixer and can now whip egg whites! It opens up whole new vistas for baking
And at a recent Swap, my friends convinced me to keep my cast iron Lodge grill pan, which I was miffed at because it hadn’t baked a cake right. Obviously user error.
42 weeks ago
I will have to look up some Grill recipes now, I guess!
Kamiah: I adore this salad and could eat it every day in the summer. {Thank heavens for my palette that never tires of certain things.} But you know what I throw in? Some mozzarella. Then it’s like a caprese salad, but with peaches. Oh so good. Oh so summer-y. {And I feel like some kind of healthy genius every time I make it.}42 weeks ago
EB, Giiiiirl, I feel you.
Margaret, So funny about stiff peaks! I’m trying to think what my other culinary “Skip to next recipes” are….usually any specialty ingredients, like some hard to find chili pepper or dashi. Next!
But seriously, these grill pans: they are awesome!
Kamiah, Oh, I love the idea of adding some cheese! A little feta might be awesome, too.42 weeks ago
miranda m.: you can imagine how delighted i was to open my google reader and see a recipe from you for the exact three things i bought at the market last night, of which i was not planning to throw together. but, now… eeeh!
42 weeks ago
Eureka in the bathtub! Love it!
42 weeks ago
Tami -- Teacher Goes Back to School: ….with no outdoor space to speak of (save for a rickety fire escape) can go a little batty from so many recipes that use the grill…..
or go batty having some outdoor space that reminds you every time you go outside how much you need to do yard work and how much you hate it. sometimes i wish i lived in an apt so all i’d have to worry about is the indoor space.
it sucks when the grill isn’t so dinner friendly because someone’s husband forgot to clean it. *sigh*
that salad sure looks pretty enough to eat on the front porch though.42 weeks ago
Laureen: Speaking of cheese, I was just thinking that some halloumi would be perfect here — and you can grill it on your grill pan!42 weeks ago
Tami, Looks like you suffer from grass is greener syndrome, too! I think there’s an epidemic going around. But oh, what I wouldn’t give for a porch.
Laureen, Halloumi! Yes! You’ve officially created a problem. A delicous problem.42 weeks ago
Katie: I hear you on the no-grill thing – but that indoor grill looks like a lifesaver! And I’ve done this salad with mozzarella – totally delish. May have to do it again this week!42 weeks ago
Claire: Sarah,
Silly question — does the grill smell up your apartment? I have been wanting to get a stove top grill for some time (esp. now that it’s summer), but my apartment is so small that I’m worried it would sponge up the smell of grilled chicken for longer than I’d like it to…I have no ventilation in my kitchen (no windows or fans). ! Thoughts? Thank you!!42 weeks ago
Not a silly question at all, Claire. It’s a little tough to answer, though, because I feel like ALL cooking I do smells up my apartment. (I also have no windows in there and a pretty insufficient fan.) So yes, it probably does. But if I close the bedroom door I can fall asleep in a room that doesn’t smell like grilled salmon.
42 weeks ago
Maryann: Do you mind sharing the make and model of your grill pan? We’ve had a ridiculously wet summer in Ireland this year so grilling has been just a dream… I’d love to be able to do it more regularly and have no idea what kind of grill pan to invest my hopes in.
42 weeks ago
Rebecca: Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe Sarah… looking forward to trying it now that peaches are in the Toronto farmers markets..
Margaret; a hand mixer will open many baking vistas for you… and make your life much, much easier!42 weeks ago
Maryann, Of course! It’s the All-Clad Double Burner Grill: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/all-clad-gourmet-double-burner-grill/
Rebecca, Hope you enjoy, and ditto your wise words on the hand-mixer! Life-changing!42 weeks ago
Ewa: I’ve just tried this recipe – loved the idea of combining peaches and basil – and it turned out sooo good! Thank you:)42 weeks ago