Food52 Mighty Salads

Grilled Peach & Apricot Salad with Kale and Prosciutto

Sturdy greens + cured meat + grilled fruit + crumbly cheese
Serves 4 | From Nicholas Day

You might think this dressing sounds overly simplified (olive oil and lemon? Why do I need a recipe for that?), but the genius comes when you top the salad with smoky, sweet, still-hot grilled stone fruit. Its juices seep down into the greens and finish what little work you put into the dressing. Add a bit of prosciutto and a tumble of feta, and you ve basically got a cheese plate in a bowl. Which, really, is what you wanted from a salad cookbook, right?

1 bunch lacinato kale
Kosher salt
1 4 cup (60ml) olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
4 ounces (115g) prosciutto, thinly sliced
4 peaches, halved
4 apricots, halved
Neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or grapeseed), for brushing
1 4 cup (40g) crumbled feta cheese
Crusty bread, for serving

1. Heat the grill to medium-high and brush your grates clean. While the grill heats up, prepare the kale. Fold a leaf in half along the central rib. With a sharp knife, cut away the rib and discard. Tear or chop the kale leaves into bite-size pieces and place them in a large salad bowl. Add a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and massage, kneading it for a minute or so, until it softens. Whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice. Tear or cut the prosciutto into bite-size pieces and set both aside.

2. When the grill is reasonably but not overwhelmingly hot, brush the peaches and apricots very lightly with the neutral oil and grill, cut side down, until deeply caramelized, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

3. Toss the kale with the dressing and feta. Add the prosciutto, followed by the still-hot peaches and apricots, letting their juices seep into the kale. If there are any extra juices on the plate, add those too. Eat with crusty bread.

Contents 


LEAFY SALADS 
Grilled Peach & Apricot Salad with Kale and Prosciutto | 3 
Petits Pois à la Française Redux | 4 
Featherweight Slaw | 7 
Antipasto Chopped Salad | 8 
Hoppin’ John Salad with Crispy Cornbread | 13 
Cobb Salad with Hard-Boiled Egg Dressing | 14 
Caesar-Style Kale Salad with Roasted Onions | 17 
Radicchio & Cauliflower with Currant-Anchovy Vinaigrette | 18 
Roasted Grape, Butternut Squash & Kale Salad | 21 
Chard Salad with Garlic Breadcrumbs & Parmesan | 22 
Wilted Escarole with Feta & Honey | 26 

LESS-LEAFY VEGETABLE SALADS 
Shaved Asparagus with Burrata, Radish & Cucumber | 31 
Fried Eggplant, Tomato & Peach Salad with Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette | 32 
Corn-Barley Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette | 35 
Charred Okra Succotash Salad | 36 
Grilled Mushroom & Fig Salad | 39 
Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard-Walnut Vinaigrette | 40 
Roasted Broccoli Rabe, Chickpea & Crispy Salami Salad | 43 
Carrot & Radicchio Salad with Fig-Balsamic Vinaigrette | 44 
Charred Broccoli & Lentil Salad | 47 
Shaved Brussels Sprouts, Endive & Apple Salad | 48 

GRAIN & BEAN SALADS 
Toasted Farro & Asparagus Salad | 53 
Grilled Ratatouille & Bulgur Salad | 54 
Smoked Lentil Salad with Sriracha Miso Mayo | 56 
Coconut Rice Salad with Mango, Bell Pepper & Lime | 59 
Farro & Golden Beet Salad with Chive-Sage Dressing | 60 
Radish & Pecan Grain Salad | 63 
Sprouted Mung Bean, Carrot & Date Salad | 65 
Wild Rice Bowl with Tofu, Sweet Potatoes & Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette | 69 
Mushroom & Mixed Grains Salad with Carrot-Harissa Vinaigrette | 73 
Freekeh, Fennel & Smoked Fish Salad | 74 
Brown Butter Brussels Sprouts

The home and kitchen destination Food52.com was founded in 2009 by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, two authors, editors, and opinionated home cooks who formerly worked for the New York Times. Since then, Food52 has created a suite of cookbooks, a cooking and home shop, a podcast, and a cooking hotline—and has won many a James Beard and IACP award doing it.

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