Charred Peach & Courgette Salad with Preserved Lemon Dressing
Salads, not just for summer weather, and with amazing peaches in shops it’s time to use them for more than just eating cold.
Something happens to the juicy flesh when heated gently with a little butter. As they warm all the way through, the flesh becomes luscious, soft and if possible, even sweeter in the mouth.
Preserved lemons may be new to you, but using the tart and slightly salty preserved lemons give that much sought after umami flavour that is so often missing in salad dressings.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
What You Need
3 Medium Peaches
2 medium Courgettes
1 Romaine Lettuce
100g Feta - Crumbled
25g Walnuts Halves
50g Radishes
Butter – for frying
Vegetable Oil – For frying
Charr the peach slices in a little butter
Dressing
½ Preserved Lemon
5 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
Malden Seas Salt – To Taste – See Tip Box
Whizz everything for the dressing until smooth
How It’s Done
Dressing
Place all the ingredients for the dressing into a bowl or into an electric blender, and give it a whizz until the preserved lemon is mixed in and the dressing is smooth.
Give it a taste and add a little Malden Sea salt if needed.
Give it another whiz to mix the sea salt in.
Set the dressing aside until needed.
A smooth sauce
Salad
Place the walnuts into a dry frying pan and on a medium heat, let the walnuts toast until some begin to colour. Shake the pan occasionally and don’t take your eyes off them. They will burn really quickly – See Tip Box
Once some of them have a bit of colour, transfer the walnuts to a cold plate and set them aside until needed.
Wipe the courgettes clean, cut off both ends of the courgette and then slice each one lengthways into strips.
Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil into a frying pan, and lay a couple of the strips of courgette into the pan.
Let them cook until they get a little colour on them. Once this happens, turn each of the slices over and charr this side too.
Repeat the cooking with all of the courgette slices.
Once cooked, lay the slices onto a plate covered with paper towel to drain and set the aside until needed.
Cook the courgettes in batches, making sure not over crowd the pan, and don’t add too much oil to the pan.
Char the courgettes on both saides.
Use a sharp knife to cut the peaches in half, and remove the stones.
Cut the peaches into thick slices.
Wipe the frying pan clean with a bit of paper towel, add a tablespoon of butter to the pan and put it on a low to medium heat.
Lay slices of the peaches in the pan, don’t over crowd the pan, and let them cook for a few minutes on each side until they all have colour.
Cook in batches.
Once cooked, remove to a plate and set aside until the rest of the salad is ready.
Charr the slices of peaches iin a little butter.w
Keep any stalks on the radishes and scrub all the dirt off under cold running water - See Tip Box
Let them drain on kitchen paper before slicing thinly. Set the slices aside until needed.
Prepare the romaine lettuce by breaking off the leaves at the base and washing them under cold running water. Let them drain well until before using them.
Roughly cut the leaves up before using.
Layer up the salad
Assembly
Lay the cut romaine lettuce onto a serving plate.
Layer al the rest of the ingredients over the lettuce.
Just before serving, drizzle the dressing over the top
Serve at room temperature, but store it in the fridge.
Charring adds flavour.
Tip Box
To Taste – To taste means a taste which suits your palette.
Toasting walnuts – Toasting nuts, is really easy and really quick so don’t walk away from them.
Leaves on the radishes - If i find leaves on radishes, i count my self really lucky. They are edible and have a wonderful peppery flavour. Keep them on but make sure all the irt is scrubbed off before you do.
Drizzle the dressing over the top of the salad.
