The ultimate summer salad is this peach arugula salad with charred corn and fresh basil. A few simple ingredients are tossed in a light and refreshing lemon and olive oil dressing. It’s a delicious, light salad to serve with your summer barbecue favorites.
Summer cooking for me is about celebrating fresh produce. This means that a lot of the time, there isn’t much cooking involved! For this salad, I basically took all of my favourite summer ingredients and threw them together.
Why this recipe works
Keep the salad simple, and use a dressing that highlights the ingredients and doesn’t hide them. Sweet peaches, with charred corn, are paired with slightly bitter and peppery arugula. The goat cheese, red onion and cucumber add additional flavor and textures to the salad.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Arugula is the base of the salad, it’s peppery and a great balance to the other sweet ingredients. You could also use baby spinach or a combination of both.
- Peaches are key! Go for the juiciest, ripest you can find. Peaches come in both clingstone and freestone varieties, because you’ll be slicing these for the salad, opt for freestone varieties for easy pitting, slicing and dicing.
- I love to have a variety of textures in salads, so cucumber is an ingredient I reach for to add lots of crunch.
- Fresh corn. I call for charred corn, which is one of my favorite ways to enjoy corn! If you don’t want to fire up your grill, you can also add the fresh kernels to the salad.
- Goat cheese adds tanginess to the salad, I also love to use feta depending on what I have in my fridge.
- Instead of a dressing packed with ingredients, I like to add fresh basil into the salad.
- For the dressing, a simple combination of lemon juice and good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Expert tips
- The secret to making a good salad is to dress it just before serving, this is especially with arugula as it isn’t very sturdy. If you add your dressing too far in advance, you’ll end up with a sad, soggy salad.
- Similar to my first tip, you also need to be mindful of the amount of dressing that you add. If you add too much, you’ll also end up with a soggy dressing.
- You can also grill the peaches at the same time as the corn, just brush them with some olive oil first to prevent any sticking.
Serving suggestions
This salad goes really well with grilled Greek chicken or grilled salmon in foil with cherry tomatoes. Grilled sweet potato fries are another favorite summer side that go really well with this salad.
Charred Corn and Arugula Salad with Peaches
Ingredients
- 1 cob corn, husks removed
- 4 cups packed arugula
- 1 peach, pitted and thinly sliced
- 1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup crumbled goat cheese, or feta
- ¼ cup thinly sliced basil
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
Dressing:
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp olive oil
- ⅛ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium-high, grill corn for 8-10 minutes, turning frequently to ensure even charring. Allow to cool, then slice kernels off the cob and discard the cob.
- In a large bowl, toss arugula with peach, cucumber, feta, basil and red onion. Add charred corn and toss with lemon juice, olive oil and salt.
Notes
- You can also grill the peaches, simply slice them in half and brush them with olive oil. Grill cut side down for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before thinly slicing and adding to the salad.
Christina 
Lou
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