Blueberry, Tomato, Nectarine Salad with fresh mint & chèvre
I think you may have noticed.
I LIKE COLORFUL FOOD. Yep, that’s me….definitely not a “dark and dismal” food blogger. My photos and recipes reflect who I am – light, cheerful and fun. When I throw together salads for our family dinners, there has to be a few ingredients that pop out of the bowl at me. I’m a sucker for anything orange, blue or yellow AND lately I’ve had a bit of an obsession with goat cheese or as the French called it….CHÉVRE.
It adds a certain “je ne sais quoi” to a dish. Translation? “I don’t know what heck you put in here….BUT IT TASTES MIGHTY GOOOOOOD”.
This little mix of fresh nectarines, blueberries, farmers market tomatoes, goat cheese and fresh mint was the perfect summer salad to serve with just about anything. Our garden (or should I say, my husband’s garden which I steal from) is growing an abundance of vegetables and herbs this year….sans one specific important herb – BASIL. How could he have forgotten to PLANT THE BASIL? HOW?
It is probably what I would have chosen to marry with this salad but I used fresh mint instead. You know something? It worked. The mint offset the other flavors beautifully and the color was divine. I drizzled the whole shebang with a light maple balsamic vinaigrette. The maple syrup was a nice addition to help celebrate Canada Day and the extra sweetness in my salad was fine by me.
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
- 2 nectarines, sliced
- 2 tomatoes, cut in wedges
- ¼ cup fresh goat cheese, crumbled
- 5 - 6 mint leaves
- Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
- ½ cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons real Canadian maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Whisk vinaigrette ingredients and place in a jar. At this stage, you can keep it in the fridge until ready to use.
- Plate all salad ingredients and sprinkle with crumbles of goat cheese and fresh mint.
- Shake jar of dressing and pour over salad. Toss and serve.
Follow
Follow
