This salad came from pure necessity after a week trip of deliciousness in Copenhagen and Paris (more on that soon). I initially featured a grilled peach salad on crunchy radish a few years back, but wanted to revisit it here and give it a little tune-up. Peppery arugula plays perfectly with the smooth and silky mozzarella and sweet caramelized peaches. I threw in some quick pickled radishes for more complexity and bite, but this can be replaced with onion or omitted altogether. The simplest of dressings is used to truly allow the ingredients to shine. In summer, when produce tastes so exceptional as is, it is best to leave things unadulterated and pure.
grilled peach, arugula, and mozzarella salad
serves 4
- 3-4 peaches, ripe but firm with pit removed. Sliced in half or quartered
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil + additional for grilling
- 3 tbsps aged balsamic vinegar
- 4 cups arugula
- 1 cup pea shoots or microgreens
- 8 oz buffalo mozzarella
- 2 tbsps pickled radishes, i used this recipe.
- 1/4 cup basil, ideally purple
- salt and pepper
method
- Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Brush peaches with olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Grill the peaches for 2 minutes a side or until you start seeing grill marks. Remove fruit from grill and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Add in the arugula and pea shoots or microgreens and toss to combine. To serve, transfer greens to individual plates, keep in serving bowl, or move to a flat platter.
- To finish assembling, top the greens with torn basil and torn mozzarella, pickled radishes, and the grilled peaches.
