Fresh peach, rocket and goat's cheese salad

It's high season for stone fruit at the moment. Peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries are in abundance.

It is a novelty for me to have these fruits in the middle of the year. In Australia, the stone fruit season is at Christmas time. When the first plums and cherries hit the shelves of the supermarket, you know that Christmas is not far away.

Walking into a fruit shop in summer in Australia, you are hit with the wonderful smell of ripe stone fruits and mangoes. And a Christmas lunch table in our house usually has a large bowl of yummy ripe stone fruit.

But in Austria, stone fruit heralds the start of the warmer weather; although this year it did take a little longer than usual for things to warm up.

Spring here brings the beautiful blooms of the soon-to-be fruit. It's almost as if the trees burst with happiness after the long, cold winter and say, 'soon you'll be warm and able to eat fresh fruit again!" The white and pale pink blossoms are one of my favourite things about spring here. Where we live in Australia we don't really have spring, so it is nice to experience it here.

Here is a simple salad recipe using ripe peaches, although nectarines would work equally well. A word of warning though, don't use really-ripe or over-ripe peaches for this recipe, as they will turn to mush when you try to remove the seed. Use fruit that is just soft.

What you'll need

Serves four as a side dish

2 or 3 ripe peaches, stone removed and cut into about 6 pieces each (see note)
2 large handfuls of washed rocket
100g goat's cheese

For the dressing

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper

What to do

Place the rocket in a serving dish.

Scatter the peach pieces over the top, then crumble the goat's cheese with your fingers and spread evenly around the dish.

In a screw-top jar, place the dressing ingredients. Screw on the lid and shake well to combine (until the honey has melted into the other ingredients).

Drizzle over the salad, season well with salt and pepper and serve immediately.


Note: How to remove the stone of the peach.
Hold the peach in your hand, with the stem part facing up. Place a small knife where the stem is and start cutting around the peach. Move the peach and the knife around in a circle until you have cut all the way around the peach, finishing at the stem. 

Now, using two hands, gently grasp each half of the peach and twist. One side of the peach will come away from the stone. Put it aside. Using your knife, gently pry the stone up from the flesh of the other peach half. Once the stone is removed, slice your peaches into the desired thickness.