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“Everybody must get stoned!” sang Bob Dylan in Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. Someone, whip him up a stone fruit salad!
We all know how to slice fruits into an easy, healthful fruit salad. But how about taking it a step further, creating a sweet-and-savory salad for lunch or dinner?
1. MIX together your favorite greens. We like to add something peppery as a counterpoint to the sweet fruit, such as baby arugula, daikon/radish and/or watercress. We also like to add crunch, in the form of celery, jicama, or water chestnuts (the radish does double duty with pepperiness and crunch). Or…
2. MAKE a grain bowl. Here’s how.
3. TOSS the salad with a light vinaigrette. Try this champagne vinaigrette, or a traditional balsamic vinaigrette, both of which add a bit of sweetness. You can also add a tablespoon of orange juice to a regular vinaigrette.
4. LAYER with sliced stone fruits—either a single fruit or an assortment. You can leave the skins on.
5. SERVE as a side salad or as a main salad with the addition of goat cheese (or other favorite cheese), chicken breast, and/or other protein.
WHAT ARE STONE FRUITS?
Stone fruits are members of the Prunus genus, and include apricots, cherries, nectarines, olives, peaches, plums, and cross-breeds such as apriums, plumcots, and pluots.
A stone fruit, also called a drupe, is a fruit with a large, hard stone (pit) inside a fleshy fruit. The stone is often thought of as the seed, but the seed is actually inside the stone.
In fact, almonds, pecans, and walnuts are examples of the seeds inside the stones. They’re also drupes, but a type in which we eat the seed inside the pit instead of the surrounding fruit.
Drupes are members of the Rosaceae family—the rose family—which includes shrubs as well as other prominent fruits (in other genera [the plural of genus) such as apples, loquats, pears, quinces, and strawberries.
Not all drupes are stone fruits. The coconut is also a drupe, as are bramble fruits such as blackberries and raspberries. June through September is prime stone fruit season in the U.S.
Don’t forget a regular fruit salad, ice cream, smoothies, and sorbet!
Summer is stone fruit season. Dig in!
HOW TO ENJOY STONE FRUITS
Chef Johnny Gnall says:
“I like to eat stone fruit raw whenever possible. But grilled stone fruit is also delicious; peaches and nectarines are exquisite.” His advice:
To grill, halve, pit, and cook the fruits just long enough to mark them. The sweetness comes out with the heat and the earthy char in the markings complements them.
Another great way to take advantage of stone fruits is to purée them and turn them into emulsified vinaigrettes. Purée the fruit with a bit of hot water, just enough to get things spinning smoothly. Then add the acid and seasonings, and finish with oil as you would a conventional vinaigrette.
Bright flavors from a dressing like this work for salads and also as meat marinades: Think pork chops!
Here’s a stone fruit salsa recipe.
CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.
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[1] Slice any stone fruit and cut burrata into bite-size pieces. Top it with the fruit, sprinkle with pepitas and drizzle with honey (photo © Bee Raw Honey).
[2] A goat cheese and peach sandwich on toasted country bread (photo © Vermont Creamery).
[3] Roasted peaches on a chicken and grain bowl (photo © Good Eggs).
[4] Nectarines, ready to slice into a salad, onto a sandwich, grill for dessert (photo © Frog Hollow Farm).
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