I’m enjoying the Saturday Market on the Green so much. There’s something new to try every week.
This week,our produce was provided by Reed’s Produce and Against The Grain Farm
INGREDIENTS
Salad Base
2 medium-ripe peaches (or nectarines)
1 small fennel bulb
4 ounces greens of your choice
½ small red onion or shallot, super thinly sliced
1 avocado
salt and pepper
Harissa nuts (see recipe)
Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons apple cider
3 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Harissa Nuts
½ cup white sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground Harissa*
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 tablespoon room temperature water.
1 pound nuts -half pistachios and half pumpkin seeds**
*Harissa is a Tunisian spice blend. You’ll most often find it in paste form (great on pork chops), but also dried and ground. It has a little bit of heat to it, but the heat is barely noticeable in this mix. It usually contains paprika, caraway, chili pepper, cayenne, coriander, cumin, garlic and peppermint. Sounds a bit strange, but it’s really wonderful. At the market, people kept asking where they could buy the nuts after they tasted them.
**You can actually use any nuts you prefer for this mixture. I chose pepitas and pistachios because I felt the size and texture would be perfect for the salad.
METHOD
If you want to go the extra mile, you can roast your peaches for this salad, although that’s by no means necessary, fresh peaches work beautifully too.
To roast the peaches, slice each peach into 8 to 12 wedges. Heat up a griddle pan on a medium-high heat and brush it with a bit of olive oil. Once the pan is hot, place peaches on it raw side on, roast for about 2 minutes on each side until lightly charred. Set aside.
Make the nuts: Preheat the oven to 300.
Mix together the salt, Harissa and sugars in a bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg and water until frothy.
Add the nuts and mix until they’re all wet.
Add the sugar mixture and toss until all are coated. Place the nuts on a piece of parchment on a sheet tray and put them in the oven.
Cook for about 30 minutes, turning every ten minutes or so. If they’re still wet or sticky, put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes. When cool, make sure they’re all broken apart and separate.
Trim the top of the fennel off, core it and slice it into very thin slices using a mandolin or a sharp knife. Chop some of the fronds and add to greens.
Toss the greens, onion and fennel. Season with salt and a small amount of black pepper.
Place that salad mix at the bottom of a large platter.
Dice avocado and arrange it with the peaches on top of salad.
Drizzle vinaigrette on top and decorate with the nuts.
You could cut this nut recipe in half, but you’ll want the extras to snack on, according to my taste testers. Enjoy them with a nice, full-bodied red Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Special thanks to Dave Baldini for the photo.
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