NY Times Kale Salad With Peaches and Cornbread Croutons

Kale Salad With Peaches and Cornbread Croutons (Recipe courtesy of NY Times Cooking

Why it's on our list

We are huge fans of The Peach Truck peaches, and for the past couple of summers we've been the grateful recipients of their famous box of peaches — fresh off the truck from Georgia and filled with the freshest peaches you've ever tasted. With 25 pounds to use up, we've been getting creative with everything from peach cobbler and peach chutney to baked chicken and peaches, peach margaritas, and peach salads galore.

This particular NYT Cooking recipe is a favorite because it's easy to make, travels well, and even tastes good the next day. The bold flavors of blue cheese, pickled onion, and peaches make for an incredible flavor profile, while the piece de résistance is the crispy, slightly sweet cornbread croutons. In our opinion, this salad is simply peach perfect!

Ingredients For The Cornbread Crumbs:

• 3 TLBS of extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika

• 1/4 tsp onion powder

• Kosher salt and black pepper

• 4 to 5 ounces store bought or homemade cornbread torn into small pieces

Ingredients For The Dressing:

• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

• 4 1/2 TLBS extra-virgin olive oil

• 3 TLBS apple cider vinegar

• 1 1/2 TLBS course grain Dijon mustard

• 1 1/2 tsp honey

Ingredients For The Salad:

• 1 LB curly kale de-stemmed and torn into bite-size pieces

• 2 large ripe peaches halved sliced into thin wedges

• 4 ounces blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola (*could substitute ricotta salata)

Directions

1. Prepare cornbread croutons: In a medium bowl, whisk 3 tablespoons of olive oil with the paprika, onion powder and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Add cornbread pieces, crumbling them gently between your fingers. Gently fold mixture using a rubber spatula. The cornbread will continue to crumble but don't panic: this will make for yummier, crispy bits.

   
   

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cornbread mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and golden, 5-6 minutes. Transfer croutons to a paper towel lined plate to cool.

   
   

3. Make the Dressing: In a large bowl, stir together the red onion, olive oil, vinegar, mustard and honey with a 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. (You should have 3/4 cup dressing)

   
   

4. Dress the salad: add kale to dressing and toss to coat. Then use your hands to assertively massage the kale until tender. Add the peaches and blue cheese and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

   
   

5. Serve: Transfer salad to a shallow platter or individual plates and top with crispy cornbread croutons.

   
   

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Serve it up!