Tomato, Peach, Chevre and Herb Salad with Apple Vinaigrette

Tomato, Peach, Chevre and Herb Salad with Apple Vinaigrette

This glorious salad is summer on a plate. The tomatoes and peaches pair beautifully and are elevated by the herbs, shallots, cheese and vinaigrette.
Use the best tomatoes you can find, and do not refrigerate them before using. Please- you will kill all their flavor and mar their texture. Use a young chèvre if you can, or really, any good goat cheese will do. If you're growing herbs in your garden, use those. They will taste more delicious than anything you buy. And use a ripe peach but  not one that is remotely mushy.

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Papaya and Cantaloupe with Lime Vinaigrette

Papaya and Cantaloupe with Lime Vinaigrette

Summertime is a season during which even the most ardent fruit lovers may feel overwhelmed. Peaches, plums, berries, melons... Everything is so delicious but it can be difficult to keep up, and at the end of the day, standard fruit salads may start to lose their luster.
This one pairs two underutilized melons with a zippy lime vinaigrette and fresh mint. It's healthy, beautiful and full of flavor!

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Farro with Beets, Feta and Pecans

Farro with Beets, Feta and Pecans

This is the fall season in a dish. A delicious grain (farro) plus a veggie (roasted gold beets), cheese (feta), nut (maple-glazed pecans) and a fresh herb dressing (chive-sage oil). Absolutely wonderful, fresh, healthy and pretty! 

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Caramelized Fennel, Leeks and Orange

Caramelized Fennel, Leeks and Orange

This recipe won Food52's Your Best Fennel contest. In their words, "This is one of the most interesting uses of fennel we know; we see it paired with grilled proteins or as a hearty first-course salad for spring dinner parties. The coriander sugar is an inspired touch, as is the sambuca. (But if you're working in a booze-free kitchen, don't let that stop you!)

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Kale Salad, Perfect

Kale Salad, Perfect

This salad is nothing fancy, and I mean that in the very best of ways. Each element shines, and the whole is a wonderful confluence of terrific parts. The fresh kale is rubbed aggressively with a lemony garlic oil and then topped with toasted walnuts, tangy-sweet sour cherries and curls of shaved Pecorino.

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Fish Taco Salad

Fish Taco Salad

Fish tacos, well crafted, have got to be one of the best dishes ever. And late spring through summer is the perfect time to enjoy them. There are times however, when tortillas and all the fixings sound a bit heavy and require more energy and input than I'm willing to expend. Solution: Salad! 

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Kale, Fava, Sultana and Walnut Salad

Kale, Fava, Sultana and Walnut Salad

I really love the way that a gentle massage of olive oil into raw kale softens it enough so that you don't feel you're gnawing on leather but leaves it firm enough that you know you're getting kale at its essence. A zippy garlic dressing is the perfect adornment, and I like the mix of toasted walnuts + sweet sultanas + blanched favas as toppers.

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Quinoa with Apricots and Pistachios

Quinoa with Apricots and Pistachios

A wonderfully fresh and super healthy salad full of herbs, dried fruit, nuts, quinoa and a great vinaigrette. I've never served this to anyone who didn't become an immediate fan. Recipe from a 2005 Cooking Light. It doubles/triples well.

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