Tag: nectarines
Fresh Nectarine and Corn Salad
Another yummy corn salad- this one is paired with one of my favorite fruits- nectarines… green onion, mint and basil take this side dish over the top!
- 4 to 5 corn on the cob, grilled till golden brown and take kernels off the cob
- 2 large or 3 medium nectarines, cut into 1-inch dice
- 4 to 5 green onions, trimmed, cut in half and grilled briefly (just to char the outside of the onions)
- ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
- ½ cup feta, crumbled
- Juice of one lemon
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
Transfer the corn kernels, nectarines, green onions, mint, basil and feta to a salad bowl. Add the lemon juice, oil and salt. Toss and serve.
Mango and Nectarine Salsa
I love making salsas in the summer. In fact any time any one is coming over, I find myself making salsa to serve with tortilla chips. I know it is very easy to buy really great salsas in the store, but … nothing like homemade salsa. First of all it tastes a lot fresher (obviously) and a lot tastier. The jarred variety always has a particular ‘old’ flavor about the salsa that I don’t care for. Don’t get me wrong… I do have the store bought variety in my fridge that I use in a bind but I prefer to make my own.
So, when some friends were coming over for a barbecue, I decide to raid my fridge and make a mango and nectarine salsa. I chopped everything fine including the onion and the cilantro. To make things interesting, I decided to roast the jalapenos. It gave the sauce a milder, nuttier flavor.
It was a big hit with the tortilla chips but it would be fabulous with any meat or fish.. or even tacos.. Try this one next time you are in the mood for something delicious and fresh..
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Baked Nectarines with Vanilla Creme Fraiche
The nectarine lovefest continues with this delicious dessert. I don’t know how to begin- first of all, it is delicious. Simple, yet it includes layers of amazing flavors.
I started with fresh nectarines, cut in half and ready to be stuffed with a mixture of oats, walnuts and brown sugar. I laced the topping with ground cardamom and cinnamon. To me, the cardamom was the key ingredient. It was simply amazing with the walnuts, oats and the baked nectarines- floral and sweet.
It is a great dessert to make in advance. I popped it in the oven as we sat down to eat dinner. Ten to fifteen minutes later, the nectarines were ready to be taken out.
I served them with some creme fraiche. I love using this French style soured cream instead of ice cream- although ice cream would be amazing as well. I added a bit of vanilla sugar into the cream and added a dollop on top of the baked nectarines. The combination was delicious. The cream cut through the sweetness of topping and the soft fruit. All in all- it was a very successful try. I will be making this with other fruits as well in the future- sky is the limit…
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Nectarine Salad with Walnut Dressing
This is a simple salad I served for a little get together we were having the other day. I like to keep things simple when people are coming over. I don’t go over board and cook lots of dishes- my philosophy is to focus on a few dishes and make them absolutely delicious.
For this dinner my plan was to make a lasagna and garlic bread. I decided to make a nectarine salad and baked nectarine dessert. If you didn’t guess- I love nectarines.
This salad is super simple- I used mixed greens. I added some walnuts and cut up a nectarine. I had recently purchased a bottle of walnut oil. I used it to make a delicious vinaigrette. I looked in my fridge and found a bottle of mango apricot nectar. I used that in addition to some white wine vinegar. Some salt and pepper and I had a yummy dressing. It was a great start to the meal. It had a great crunch from the walnuts and a burst of sweetness from the nectarines. The walnut oil flavor came through loud and clear and tied all the flavors together.
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Nectarine Duffins
As I sit here and write about this favorite snack in our house- I am hiding my laptop from my daughter who is sitting right next to me reading her book. You wonder why? Well, she has been asking me to bake some duffins for her for a while now and I just haven’t done it. If she notices the huge picture- I will be in big trouble…
She asked for them again yesterday and I told her we can make them today. So, once I am done with my writing for the day and after I finish cooking dinner- we will be baking some duffins- at least that is what I plan.
These ones are a bit different- I took advantage of all the delicious fruit in the farmers market and stuffed the duffins with chopped nectarines. I placed the delicious fruit in a small bowl and topped it with some vanilla sugar. I let it sit for a while and get juicy.
I then proceeded to use the same recipe for duffins and added the delicious nectarines in the middle. I was a bit hesitant to serve them to my daughter and her friends. Well, actually, my daughter is used to having all kinds of fruit. A lot of her friends are not so keen. To my surprise, everyone loved them…
So, here is another version of duffins- try the nectarine ones- they are delicious…
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Nectarine Bruschetta
I love this recipe I came up with a few weeks ago. I was hosting our book club meeting and I was trying to come up with a menu. I wanted to make few summer dishes and bruschetta came to mind. When we were in Spello, Italy last year, we had a lot of different kinds of bruschetta- not the usual tomato one. I love the original but it is great to come up with something different.
I decided to use nectarines instead of tomatoes. I cut them up, added garlic, basil, salt and extra virgin olive oil. That is all- I mixed everything together and let it sit for a while. The nectarine pieces became a bit soft and married with the rest of the flavors.
I bought olive bread as well as raisin walnut bread. I thought both would go really well with the marinated nectarines. I sliced and toasted the bread.
I placed the nectarine mixture in a bowl. I then placed the sliced bread, a bowl of olives and sliced feta cheese. Everyone assembled their own bruschetta. It was all delicious.
This is a perfect appetizer to serve at a party or for a simple supper…
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Three Bean Salad with Nectarines
Here is another summer dish that is super simple to make and delicious at the same time. I made this one for a barbecue we were invited to. I offered to make a bean salad and decided to add juicy nectarines to the mix.
Like mangoes, nectarines add a delicious sweet, tangy aspect to any dish.
I used garbanzo, kidney and black beans. I added green onions, cilantro and the nectarines- that is it. You can assemble this salad in advance and refrigerate it until you serve your meal. In fact it tastes better if you dress it in advance and let it sit for a while. The flavors marry each other and taste delicious.
Speaking of the dressing, I made an orange chipotle one for this salad. I juiced two large navel oranges, one lemon and paired them with a chipotle pepper, honey and olive oil. It resulted in a delicious, fresh tasting dressing. I mixed the salad with the dressing and kept in the fridge until we were ready to go for the get together.
The salad was served with some lamp burgers and corn. Everything was delicious, especially the salad. It was a perfect balance of spice, sweet and tangy- my favorite flavor combination!
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