Our local supermarket, which will remain nameless, has perfectly ripe Spanish peaches at the moment. Absolutely perfect for a summer barbecue salad. It’s worth paying the extra for free-range chicken from a reliable source (probably not the local supermarket).
Warm Chicken & Peach Salad – to serve 4
- 500g good-quality chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- baby spinach leaves
- ripe peaches
- basil
Heat the barbecue.
Put the chicken breast in a shallow dish. Add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Turn the chicken breasts in the marinade until they are well-coated.
Cook the chicken on the hot barbecue until cooked through (ours took about 6 minutes on each side). You are going to slice the chicken anyway so it’s no problem to slice open one of the fillets to check.
Scatter a good few handfuls of spinach and a small handful of basil leaves over a large serving platter.
Mix 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil, a few shredded basil leaves and some salt and pepper together to make a dressing.
Slice the chicken and peaches and toss gently with the salad leaves. Drizzle over the dressing and serve.
Drink with: either Roussanne or Marsanne with their stone-fruit flavours to complement the light peachy flavours of the salad. We had a glass of a St Joseph white from Pierre Gaillard made from Roussanne which is amazing on it’s own and a perfect match for this dish.
