A Summer Salad Like Candy
A love letter to pluots
A love letter to pluots
To me, the stone fruit family is one of the purest joys of existence, and easily the main thing I look forward to pertaining to eating each summer. My mom introduced me to pluots as a small child — maybe four or five years old — and I remember instantly falling in love with them and waiting impatiently to see their golden pink and speckled skins at the grocery store each year once summer was in full swing. They’re impossibly sweet yet slightly tangy and I’ve never been able to exhibit an ounce of self control around them: I’ll eat like four at a time. They are, in my book, one of the most underrated fruits out there, and the most perfect hybrid between the Japanese plum and the apricot. Of course my favorite way to eat them is just as they are, but here’s my second favorite way:
Ingredients:
For the salad:
5 cups baby arugula
3-4 Tbsp of goat cheese, crumbled
3 small-medium pluots, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp fresh dill, torn into small pieces
Flaky salt
For the salad dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp local wildflower honey
Fresh ground black pepper to taste (I like quite a lot in this salad)
Sea salt to taste
Directions:
Add all of the salad dressing components to a bowl and whisk until well combined
Place your arugula into a large serving bowl and pour your dressing in slowly, mixing until well coated. You may end up with a little bit leftover depending on how well-coated you like your arugula leaves
Add in the goat cheese and mix again, then add the pluots
Add another sprinkle of goat cheese, the dill, some sea salt and several twists of ground pepper, and a few small drizzles of honey if you’d like