Cooking with Solveig: Herbed Peach, Feta, and Cucumber Salad
This salad was inspired by my Daughter Maggie’s request to take advantage of the last of the peach offerings at the farmer’s market.
We found inspiration from the web and used the following increments for a dinner party of 8 and we had a little leftover the next day - what a glorious thing to look forward to!
We served our salad with lamb kafta, cumin, turmeric and garlic grilled chicken thighs accompanied by herbed yogurt and chermoula sauces and chanterelle cauliflower risotto.
Vinaigrette Ingredients:
- 1 large shallot, finely diced
- 2 large lemons
- 2 T good quality white wine vinegar
- 1 T rice wine vinegar, plus a little more if salad is dry
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Salad Ingredients:
- 2 lbs small kirby cucumbers, sliced in assorted shapes (you can use any cukes you want, I just like the variation)
- 1 large English cucumber, seeded, sliced on bias (if you need to use all English for the salad - it’s okay!)
- 2 lbs preferred peaches pitted, sliced in thick wedges (6-8 per peach)
- 8 oz feta cheese, broken by hand in bite sized pieces
- 1 package of fresh basil, or at least 1 cup measured from your garden
- 1 package of fresh mint, or at least 1 cup measured from your garden (careful with garden mint, very strong)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- Make vinaigrette: Zest ONE lemon and juice both lemons. Combine finely diced shallot, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vinegars in a bowl. Season with a good pinch of Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Toss cucumbers in half the vinaigrette. Toss the peaches in the remaining half of the vinaigrette. I let the cucumbers and peaches marinate in separate bags in the fridge for a good portion of the afternoon.
- To assemble, place the cukes and peaches with the vinaigrette in a large serving bowl, break feta over salad and top with torn herbs. Toss gently and taste for seasoning. You may wish to add a squeeze of lemon juice or a sprinkle or rice wine vinegar to moisten the salad a little.
NOTE: The girls and I thought this would also make a fabulous salsa - small dice cukes and peaches, add cilantro to the herb mix and perhaps a bit of minced jalapeno. Dare we mention adding some avocado?!!