Barbecue season is here! To celebrate, Carlene and I were asked to talk about barbecuing on CBC Radio’s Saskatoon morning show, and to share some barbecue recipes that differed from the usual steak and burgers. Although we already have a fair bit of unique BBQ recipes on the blog, it got me thinking about the other things I have barbecued but never blogged.
I love grilling squash, veggies, fruit, grilled cheese, you name it, I’ll grill it! With all those on my mind, I settled on making something with grilled peaches. That way I could incorporate it into a main dish, as well as a dessert!
Grilled Peach, Chicken & Arugula Salad
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast
- 2 large handfuls of arugula
- 2 slices of prosciutto
- goat cheese
- 1 handful of walnuts
- brown sugar
- 1 peach
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
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- Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
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- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- honey to taste
Instructions
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- Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
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- Mix together oil and lemon juice, then add honey until the vinaigrette is sweetened to your liking.
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- Salad
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- Rub chicken breast with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Turn barbecue on high, allowing to heat for 10 minutes.
- Cut peach, separating each half, and rub with olive oil.
- Once barbecue has heated, turn to medium heat, placing peaches, chicken, and prosciutto on grill.
- Cook prosciutto for about a minute until crispy, then remove.
- Cook peaches until they are lightly charred, and have grill marks, about 10 minutes, and remove.
- Cook chicken until it reach 165F, about 15-20 minutes.
- While peaches and chicken are cooking, roast your walnuts in a pan on medium heat.
- Once walnuts start to become toasted, sprinkle with a generous pinch or two of brown sugar, a generous pinch of salt, and if you have leftover drippings from cutting the peach, add that to the pan. If not, just add a splash of water, allowing the brown sugar to caramelize into a sauce.
- Once walnuts are coated with the caramelized sugars, allow it to brown lightly before removing from the heat.
- Once chicken is finished cooking, remove from the grill and allow to rest at least ten minutes.
- While chicken is resting, place a large handful of arugula on each plate, drizzle about a tablespoon of the vinaigrette over it, followed by crumbling a piece of prosciutto and some goat cheese on the salad. Finish with chopped candied walnuts, a grilled peach, and sliced chicken breast.
The salad came together perfectly, with lots of unique flavours all pairing together into one delicious summery meal! Fresh arugula, dressed with a lightly sweetened, tart vinaigrette, salty prosciutto, savoury goat cheese, hearty grilled chicken, a juicy peach, and little bits of sweet nuttiness from the walnuts! This is definitely something that I will be making again.
Happy grilling!
Bob
I love the various flavor combinations in this salad: the sweet peaches, peppery arugula, tangy goat’s cheese and salty prosciutto. Yummmm!
I so have to try this!
I’ve never tried peach on chicken before, it looks really good.