Summer Salad Series: Peaches n' Glaze

Welcome to week two of the vorace.'s Summer Salad Series!

Last week I filled you in on my dad's engagement and the casual summertime southern barbeque inspired meal my boyfriend and I hosted to celebrate. I turned the side dishes I made into a series of salad recipes I'm sharing with you for the remainder of July, my very favorite month.

This week's recipe might've been the group favorite. I got many compliments on this dish and everyone had seconds. This recipe, with only four ingredients, is a true testiment to the idea of simple is better. It was inspired by a few things. First, it's definitely peach season in this area and I remember getting the juiciest, sweetest, best tasting peaches from the farmers' market years ago to make this recipe the first time. Since I knew we would be making a trip to the FM to buy ingredients for this celebratory dinner, I decided to add peaches to my list. Using in-season, fresh, organic ingredients always makes for the best tasting dishes, so taking advantage of peach season was a must! Next, my friend Paloma introduced me to the whole balsamic-on-fruit idea a few years ago after her trip to Italy. She kindly shared with me some special aged balsamic vinegar that we happily drizzled over fresh strawberries - and it was to.die.for. That particular balsamic was naturally slightly sweet, thus paired well with the berries. Since finding that type of specialized ingredient here in the States is either 1. impossible or 2. expensive, I decided to recreate the flavor by making a balsamic reduction to drizzle over our farmers' market peaches. Reducing the vinegar makes it into a mildly sweetened syrup while maintaining the unmistakable pungency & flavor of balsamic.

And lastly, the sage element. I know I've mentioned before, but my boyfriend has quite the balcony garden blooming this year, and he grew sage from seeds. I decided that the earthy flavor of sage would pair well with the sweetness of the peaches, and I was correct! All of the flavors of these ingredients came together to create the perfect sweet and savory dish.

OK, let's get reducing!

Peaches & Sage with Balsamic Glaze
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: ~18 minutes

Ingredients:
6 ripe peaches - peeled, pitted, and sliced
5 medium sized fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Pinch pink Himalayn sea salt

Place a small pot on the stove over high heat. Make sure to turn on the vent fan! My boyfriend was none too pleased with the pungent aroma of boiling vinegar wafting throughout our apartment...

Pour in the balsamic vinegar and bring it to a boil.

Allow the vinegar to boil for a full minute, and then reduce the heat to low.

Let the vinegar reduce and thicken over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it forms a thick syrup - about 15 minutes.

While the vinegar is reducing, make the rest of the salad.

Add the sliced peaches to your serving bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

 Stack the sage leaves on top of each other on a cutting board and run through them with a sharp knife several times, mincing them.

Sprinkle the sage over the peaches and toss.

Once the vinegar has formed a syrup, remove from the heat and pour over the sliced peaches.

Refrigerate until ready to serve or serve immediately. (The vinegar will become less syrup-y when refrigerated but the flavor will still remain!)

Salute!