Steak and Grilled Peach Salad

I have been dreaming about making this salad for like four months at this point and refused to make it until peaches were in season because I wanted it to be perfection. We have now made it to summer and I will tell you what, this salad is everything that I had dreamed it would be.

Steak and Grilled Peach Salad

Serves:4

Active Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

For The Salad

• 6 cups arugula/spinach mix
• 2 mini seedless cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 ripe peaches, halved
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 petite sirloin steak (about 1 lb.)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese (you can substitute blue cheese)

For The Dressing

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. dijon mustard
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat the grill to 400 degrees.

2. Season sirloin steak with salt and pepper. Then, drizzle peaches with 1 tsp. olive oil. Grill the steak and peaches until the steak is medium rare and the peaches are softened and slightly charred (about 10 minutes.)

3. Over medium heat, add 1 tsp. olive oil to a pan and heat. Add chopped walnuts and toast until slightly browned (about 4 minutes.)

4. Toss all salad ingredients together in a large bowl.

5. Combine all dressing ingredients in a sealable Tupperware or mason jar. Shake vigorously for about 45 seconds or until all of the ingredients have emulsified. (You can tell everything is emulsified when the oil does not separate from the other ingredients.)

6. Toss salad together with the dressing and enjoy!

Beaujolais- Villages

MY RECOMMENDATION:

Paradon & Fils Beaujolais Villages- find it at Total Wine

WHY IT WORKS:

• Beaujolais is the only type of wine that come out of Burgundy, France that is not Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. Beaujolais is made from Gamay grapes and is often drank very young (meaning it does not typically age much before it hits the market for sale.)
• Beaujolais is usually a high acid red wine. It has low to medium tannin and almost always has bright, fruity flavors of red berries. It can sometimes have notes of candy, bubblegum or banana depending on how the wine is made. Don't worry. It's not as weird as it sounds.
• I think this wine is a great happy medium red wine to pair with the steak and grilled peach salad because it is still light and fruity, so it doesn't overpower the grilled peaches and sweet vinaigrette dressing. It does still have some light tannins, which always pair well with steak.
• Beaujolais is a fun, inexpensive, easy drinking wine, which is perfect to pair with this summer salad.
• I recommend serving the Beaujolais slightly chilled. This helps to bring out the fruit flavors!