Chopped Summer Salad has been my jam all summer long. With juicy ripe nectarines, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, feta and almonds, it doesn’t get much more seasonal than this. Make it for lunch, serve at your next cookout, or even to pack to take on a picnic.
Chopped Summer Salad is perfect to make when all of the fruit the recipe calls for is in season. Yep, you heard me right, fruit! Fun fact, it’s not just the nectarines that are fruit, but the cucumbers and tomatoes are, too. Let’s get right down to the recipe!
Seek out ripe nectarines or peaches for this salad
Recipe rundown…
As I mentioned, we are taking advantage of stone fruit and tomatoes being in peak season (which is summer). Stone fruit refers to fruit with a stone or pit in the middle, such as nectarines, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, etc.
For this recipe you’ll need:
- mixed greens
- nectarine or peach
- cherry or grape tomatoes
- cucumber
- almonds
- feta
- rice wine vinaigrette (recipe below!)
For the mixed greens I like mesclun here, but you can use arugula, boston, chopped romaine or a combo.
Nectarines or peaches work equally well here, and I recommend keeping the skin on. Also, look for ripe but not too soft fruit.
I love seeking out heirloom grape or cherry tomatoes in the summer months, they are so sweet and delicious. You can halve them and season with salt prior to using, which draws out some of the moisture and concentrates the flavor.
The cucumbers that are best here would be seedless ones, such as english/hothouse or the small persian. You can peel the cucumbers altogether or peel stripes.
TIP: salt your chopped tomatoes and cucumbers and let drain on a paper towel before adding to the salad, to bring out the flavor
Top salad with toasted almonds just before serving for max crunch!
For the almonds I like sliced or slivered in salads like this one. You can dry roast them yourself, which you should be doing with all nuts you use in recipes. Roasting nuts and seeds brings out the flavor. The exception would be when you are making something like granola, start with raw nuts.
To roast sliced or slivered almonds bake at 350° for about 9-10 minutes on a parchment lined pan. I promise, you’ll never eat a raw almond again!
For the feta you can go with traditional feta if you prefer. But if you are vegan or dairy-free like me try Just Like feta, which has a sheep’s milk cheese tang but is completely dairy-free.
Last but not least, the homemade Rice Wine Vinaigrette!
Chopped Summer Salad looking good!
What is rice vinegar?
A note to start: rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are the same thing. I know, it’s confusing, but just remember that. Another way to think about it is to remember that red wine vinegar is vinegar, not red wine.
Rice vinegar, also called rice wine vinegar, is vinegar made from rice through a process of fermentation (like wine). Rice vinegar is often the byproduct of sake making.
What confuses matters is there is actual rice wine, that you can drink, such as the aforementioned Japanese sake. And there is also rice wine you cook with, Japanese mirin.
This recipe uses unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar, which is low-acidity and mild in flavor. This makes it perfect for a summer salad like this one!
Important note: there is also seasoned rice vinegar, but for this recipe you want the unseasoned. Seasoned rice vinegar has salt, sugar and sometimes other additives we don’t want here.
I like Marukan rice vinegar, which you can find at most supermarkets.
If you don’t have rice vinegar on hand several other vinegars would work, such as red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, or even balsamic.
Add black lentils or grilled chicken for an entrée salad
Like I said at the start of this post, Chopped Summer Salad is great for so many things. And it’s even versatile ~ use cherries or add avocado! Sunflower or hemp seeds would even go well here.
And if you want to make this a more substantial salad, add some black lentils or grilled chicken for protein.
If you make Chopped Summer Salad I’d love to know how it turns out. Feel free to drop a comment below or tag me on Instagram. And be sure to follow me there for more recipes and cooking tips!
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Like summer fruit? You will love these other recipes…
Stone Fruit Coconut Almond Crisp (vegan, GF)
Harissa Cauliflower Steaks + Corn Salsa (vegan, GF)
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 tbsp minced shallot optional but adds a lot of flavor!
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp honey sub agave for vegan
- 2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar see blog post for brand recs
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cups mixed greens
- 1 large ripe nectarine chopped
- 1/2 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta vegan or traditional, see blog post for brand recs
- 1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
Ingredients
Dressing ingredients
Salad ingredients
|
|
- make dressing: using a handheld blender and beaker or standard blender, puree all salad dressing ingredients, then season to taste with salt & pepper; alternatively, place all ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously to emulsify; dressing yields about 1/3 cup
- assemble salad: in a large bowl toss salad ingredients with desired amount of dressing, then top with almonds and serve right away
Recipe serves 2 as a side, 1 as a main
Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com