Peach Arugula (Rocket) Salad
This peach arugula (rocket) salad is a delicious and nutritious combination of ingredients that provide an array of flavours and textures. The secret to any good salad.
In This Article
How To Like Salad
Mixing colours, flavours, and textures, and pairing it all with an excellent dressing is absolutely key to creating a salad you’ll love. Many salads you order when eating out can be chronically over or under-dressed and generally lacking in taste. But when making your own, like this peach arugula (rocket) salad, you can create any combination of ingredients to delight the senses.
It often surprises me how many people say they don’t like salads. When I hear it, I tend to think perhaps this person has never had a GREAT salad. Salads provide a very easy way for someone to get a heap of vegetables into their diet. And when only 6.1% of the adult population (in Australia though it’s a global trend) are meeting their daily vegetable intake, it’s definitely needed.
Ingredients
This salad is perfect for long summer days when peaches are found in abundance. Peeling the peaches is not necessary but can be done if preferred. Either yellow or white peaches would work equally well in this recipe. Yellow is great for a big pop of colour though.
- Arugula/Rocket – The peppery bite of the arugula/rocket is an excellent match for many of the sweeter ingredients in this salad. It’s a fantastic green vegetable that aids digestion too. More on that in the FAQ section.
- Peaches – Go for perfectly ripe peaches. Under-ripe and you won’t have much sweetness. Over-ripe and they’ll be a mushy mess to cut into!
- Soft goat’s cheese/Chèvre – With its rich creamy texture and tangy flavour this is adding a touch of indulgence to the salad. It also helps to balance the bitterness of the arugula/rocket and the sweetness of the peaches too.
- Walnuts – Provide earthiness but they also have hints of both bitter and sweet. They’re toasted for this recipe, which turns them into golden, buttery, and extra crunchy delights.
- Prosciutto (optional) – This is an optional extra, but the saltiness and the crispiness once cooked add another dimension of both flavour and texture.
- Extra virgin olive oil – Fruity, herbaceous, and pungent, evoo makes a sublime base for this salad’s dressing.
- Balsamic vinegar – A great balsamic will provide a mix of complex flavours that deliver a little tartness and a little sweetness. This comes from ingredients that are rich in polyphenols like cherries, chocolate, figs, blackstrap molasses, and prunes.
- Honey – Adding a little sweetness to the dressing to balance the acidity of the vinegar and the peppery hints in the olive oil.
- Dijon Mustard – Helps to thicken up the dressing and make it creamy though also adds a touch of spice.
If peaches are not in season near you or simply not liked, they can be replaced with nectarines or even yellow cherry tomatoes. Both are a great substitution although the tomatoes will mean there is less sweetness and fruitiness in the salad.
How to make this salad
This is very quick to pull together and will be on the table in 15 minutes. It’s best made fresh right before your meal is served.
- Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
- Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
- Place slices of prosciutto on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place the walnuts on another. Bake the walnuts for 6-7 minutes and the prosciutto for 10 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool.
- Assemble the salad while the prosciutto and walnuts are cooking. The best way to do this is layer the salad (see notes in recipe below if needed). Add 1/3 of the arugula/rocket, peach slices, and goat’s cheese to a large bowl. Crush over 1/3 of the cooled walnuts and repeat this twice more so you have three layers.
- Crumble the cooked prosciutto if using over the top of the salad.
- Drizzle 2/3 of the dressing over the top and serve straight away. More dressing can be added to each bowl served if desired.
The dressing is generous so if any is left, keep it in a jar with a lid on in the fridge. It can be used within the week for another salad.
FAQ
Yes. Like many other bitter foods arugula/rocket is excellent for digestion. Bitter foods stimulate the release of digestive juices, that help to stimulate appetite, which in turn improves our ability to digest what we eat. Arugula/rocket is also packed with fibre – a great boost to the gut microbiome and gut health overall.
If peaches aren’t your thing something like nectarines will work equally well with the mix of ingredients here. You can even leave them out completely if needed but do consider replacing that pop of colour with something else. Yellow or orange cherry tomatoes would be perfect.
Watch How To Make This Recipe
Peach Arugula (Rocket) Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups arugula (rocket) This should be tightly packed cups (roughly 150g / 5 ounces)
- 150 g soft goat's cheese / chèvre (5 ounces)
- ½ cup walnuts
- 2 ripe peaches
- 6 slices prosciutto (optional)
Dressing
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 45ml
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp honey
- ½ tsp salt
- A few good grinds of black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
- To make the dressing – place all ingredients into a bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside and make the salad.
- Place slices of prosciutto (if using) on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place the walnuts on another sheet also lined with baking paper. Put both trays in the oven. Bake the walnuts for ~6-7 mins. Bake the prosciutto for the full 10 minutes or until golden. Set both aside to cool. (See note 1 for this step)
- While the prosciutto and walnuts are cooking, assemble the salad. The best way to do this is layer the salad (see note 2 below). Add 1/3 of the arugula/rocket, 1/3 peach slices, and 1/3 goat's cheese to a large bowl. Crush over 1/3 of the cooled walnuts and repeat this twice more so you have three layers.
- Crumble the cooked prosciutto if using over the top of the salad.
- Drizzle 2/3 of the dressing over the top and serve straight away. More dressing can be added to each bowl served if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Want More Side Dish Recipes? Take A Look At These!
- Mango Cucumber Salad
- Autumn Harvest Salad
- Caramelized Brussels Sprouts
- Polenta Chips
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower
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