Stone Fruit Salad with Toasted Almonds, Goat Cheese, & Peach Vinaigrette

This salad includes fruits such as fresh cherries, peaches, mangoes, plums, and nectarines.
Don’t worry if you can’t find all the fruits included in the ingredients list—the salad will taste great even if you only use one or two of them. Use whatever stone fruits you can find that are ripe, sweet, and delicious.

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Stone Fruit Salad with Toasted Almonds, Goat Cheese, & Peach Vinaigrette

This salad includes fruits such as fresh cherries, peaches, mangoes, plums, and nectarines.

Don’t worry if you can’t find all the fruits included in the ingredients list—the salad will taste great even if you only use one or two of them. Use whatever stone fruits you can find that are ripe, sweet, and delicious.

Ingredients

For the Peach Vinaigrette:

• 1 peach (finely minced, juice included)
• ½ shallot (finely minced)
• ¼ fresh jalapeno (seeds & stems removed, remainder finely minced)
• ½ clove raw garlic (finely minced)
• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1-2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Salt & freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)

For the Salad Components:

• 8 oz fresh cherries (cut in half, pits removed)
• 2 fresh peaches (cut into 3/8” slices)
• 1 fresh mango (cut into bite-sized chunks)
• 2 plums (cut into 3/8” slices)
• 1 nectarine (cut into 3/8” slices)
• 3 cups arugula or frisee salad greens (or any salad greens you prefer, washed and dried)
• ¼ cup sliced almonds (toasted)
• 2 Tbsp black and white sesame seeds (toasted)
• 3 Tbsp fresh mint (finely sliced)
• 6 oz log of soft goat cheese (broken into crumbles)
• A drizzle of honey (as garnish)
• Salt & freshly-ground black pepper

Instructions 

• For the peach vinaigrette, combine the peach vinaigrette ingredients and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
• Season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste.
• If you prefer a slightly sweeter vinaigrette, increase the quantity of honey.
• For the salad components, prepare all of the stone fruits you have collected.
• Wash and drain your salad greens of choice.
• Reserve salad greens on paper towels for salad assembly later.
• Toast your almonds and sesame seeds separately.
• When ready to serve, combine the stone fruits, salad greens, almonds, and sesame seeds with some of the peach vinaigrette and gently mix in the finely-sliced fresh mint leaves.
• Season the mixture with salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste.
• Add more vinaigrette if desired.
• Serve the salad in bowls, garnished with the crumbled soft goat cheese and a drizzle of honey.

Notes

If making the salad in advance, store the individual ingredients and vinaigrette separately. Allow the vinaigrette to come to room temperature before stirring and serving. Combine all ingredients right before serving.