A glorious summer grilled peach salad with chicken, rocket, lots of herbs and feta. Topped with crunchy pistachios and dressed in a light honey mustard dressing.
PEACH SALAD
This peach salad with grilled chicken and herbs is my number one summer salad 2019! An amazing combination of ingredients, all bursting with flavor, healthy and light, ready in no time.
If you've never had grilled peaches before, now is the time to finally try them. You will like them so much, you will keep coming up with recipes ideas including some grilled peaches. Not only salads, but also grilled peaches desserts, breakfasts and so on.
HOW TO GRILL PEACHES
Grilling peaches is so easy, after you have done it once, you will wonder why you didn't do that before. OK, I admit, grilling fruit is not exactly the first thing to come to mind when it comes to grilling, but it is so worth it!
How to choose peaches for grilling?
The best peaches to grill are peaches that are still rather firm. If the peaches are too ripe, they will contain too much sugar which will burn quickly. If they are too soft, they will become mushy when grilled.
Really underripe peaches are not optimal either, as they will need too long to cook and will probably still remain too firm after cooking. So, look for ripe yet still firm peaches.
Grilling peaches:
- Heat a grill pan on medium heat.
- Halve and pit the peaches: run a knife around the circumference of the peach and twist open. Remove the pit.
- Spray or brush them very lightly with oil.
- Place the peaches in the pan, cut-side down. Grill for about 5 minutes, until nicely charred on the underside.
- Flip the peaches using tongs and grill on the other side for another 5 minutes or so, until their skins are also charred and the peaches are soft.
- If the peaches are not quite soft after this time, transfer them to the sides of the pan, where the temperature is somewhat lower and continue grilling for a couple more minutes until the peaches are done to your liking.
How to use grilled peaches?
Grilled peaches can be used in many different ways:
- Use in salads like today's grilled peach salad with peaches.
- Top your granola, porridge, müsli for breakfast.
- Use in desserts topped with whipped cream, ice cream or this delicious strained yogurt.
- Make a fruit salad.
- Make ice cream/ popsicles: chop them finely or puree them and mix with Greek yogurt/sour cream. Sweeten to taste and pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze. You can follow this recipe for popsicles, just replace the other fruit with grilled peaches.
- Use as a side dish for grilled chicken or pork chops.
INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN PEACH SALAD
Peaches:
We talked about the peaches already. Use just ripe and still rather firm peaches for best results.
Chicken:
I used one smaller chicken breast of about 125 g/ 4.4 oz. You can marinate the chicken breast before grilling, it will improve the flavor. However, if you don't have the time for it, it's fine, the grilled peach salad will still be scrumptious.
Herbs:
I used rocket/ arugula, I love its peppery taste and the freshness. Also lots of fresh basil and mint.
Pistachios:
I prefer to use roasted, salted pistachios in their shell, even if it takes a few minutes to shell them all. They are much better than any already shelled pistachios I ever bought.
Feta cheese:
When it comes to feta, I always buy blocks of feta, preferably in brine. There is no excuse here, already crumbled feta is garbage, if you ask me, and has nothing to do with real feta. They're both white and that's about it! Crumbling a little bit of feta yourself takes 3 seconds, so do it, it is worth it!
Lime:
You can use lemon, if you don't happen to have lime juice. But I love lime juice in this peach salad recipe.
HOW TO MAKE GRILLED PEACH SALAD
- Rub the chicken with a little oil, balsamic vinegar and spices. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes to 1 hour, if you have the time. If not, it's fine, just grill it immediately.
- Grill the peaches as instructed above. To save time, grill the chicken breast together with the peaches. If the grill pan is large enough, of course. If you prepare the grilled peach salad with chicken for more people, than you will have to grill the chicken and the peaches separately.
- While the peaches and the chicken are cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients: wash and dry the rocket and the herbs, shell and roughly chop the pistachios, make the peach salad dressing.
- To make the dressing, mix together the olive oil, honey, mustard, lime juice, salt and pepper.
- Mix half of the dressing with the rocket and the herbs.
- Arrange the grilled peaches and the sliced grilled chicken on top.
- Sprinkle the salad with the chopped pistachios and the crumbled feta.
- Pour the remaining dressing on top.
- Serve immediately.
Other amazing summer salads:
Shopska Salad
Strawberry, Nectarine and Quinoa Salad
Cucumber Salad with Dill
Tiger Prawns with Red Currants
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Grilled Peach Salad with Chicken
Ingredients
- Grilled peaches and chicken:
- 1 small chicken breast about 125 g/ 4.4 oz
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 medium peach
- Grilled peach salad:
- large handful arugula
- small handful basil 6 g/ 0.2 oz basil leaves
- a few sprigs mint 3 g/ 0.1 oz mint leaves
- 30 g/ 1 oz feta ⅛ cup when crumbled
- 25 g/ 0.8 oz pistachios See note
- Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon runny honey
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- juice of ½ lime about 2-3 teaspoons (to taste)
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Grilled peaches and chicken:
- Mix together ½ teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon olive oil, and 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar. Add some salt and pepper. Rub the chicken breast with this mixture. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes to 1 hour, if you have the time, or grill the chicken breast immediately.
- Halve and pit the peach. Lightly spray or brush the peach halves with olive oil.
Heat a grill pan on medium heat. Add the chicken and the peach halves, cut-side down. - Grill for 5 minutes. Turn both the chicken and the peach halves.
- Continue grilling for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the peach halves are nicely charred and soft. If the peach is not as soft as you would like it to be, move it towards the side of the grill pan and continue grilling it at a lower temperature until done to your liking.
- Check the chicken by piercing it with a skewer, the juices should run clear.
- Remove both from the pan and let cool for a couple of minutes.
- Slice the chicken.
Grilled peach salad:
- While the chicken and the peaches are cooking, wash and dry the arugula and the herbs. Place in a bowl.
- Shell and chop the pistachios.
- Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, honey, mustard, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Adjust the taste. Add half of the dressing to the arugula and herbs and mix to coat the herbs with the dressing.
- Arrange the sliced chicken and the peaches on top. Add the crumbled feta and the chopped pistachios. Pour the remaining dressing on top.
- Serve immediately.
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