Peach Beet Salad (Dairy-Free)

July is one of my favorite months at the farmer’s market. The last of the ripe, juicy peaches are piled high in orchard baskets just as the first beets of the autumn season start to roll in. Living so close to Georgia, I feel especially spoiled this time of year. Having access to local peaches is one of the dreamiest parts of summer in the coastal Southeast. This Dairy-Free Peach Beet Salad is a celebration of these few fleeting weeks when stone fruit and root veg share the stage. It’s sweet, earthy and smoky, with zing from quick-pickled shallots and a bright Citrus and Basil Vinaigrette. Every bite is a little moment. Yes, it calls for both roasting and grilling (a tiny bit fussy, I know), but trust me, it’s worth it. Roast a full tray of beets and grill more peaches than you think you’ll need. You’ll want leftovers to dig into all week.

How this Peach Beet Salad fits AIP and Paleo

This Peach Beet Salad is both AIP and Paleo. The dressing is completely dairy-free and egg-free. The dressing is also mustard-free so that it’s compatible with AIP, relying on garlic and honey as emulsifiers to keep the dressing together. You may just need to give it a stir after it sits in the fridge for a bit.

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Start by making the pickled shallots. Ideally, you would do this a few hours (or even a day) ahead. Make my go-to quick-pickling brine, which is one part white wine vinegar, one part water and a bit of coconut sugar. Bring it to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan, then pour over a half cup of sliced shallots. Let it cool for a bit on the counter, then cover and refrigerate.

This is the easiest way to prepare beets. Give them a good scrub, then cut the tops and the root tips. Place one (or two, if they’re small) in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, season with a pinch of salt, then crinkle up the foil at the top to make a packet.

Then place the foil packets in a baking dish or a baking sheet and roast at 425°. Small beets will need about 45 minutes and larger beets can go for up to an hour and a half. Test them in 30-minute increments until you can easily insert a fork into the center of each beet without any resistance.

Open the packets and let the beets cool until they’re easy to handle. You’ll be able to easily rub the skins off with a towel or paper towel. Get ready for your fingers to be stained for a bit! Beets have been used as an ancient source of colorful dye for centuries. And they aren’t just red… look for yellow and orange Golden beets and candy cane (or Chioggia) beets that have pink and white circles.

Once they’re all peeled, slice the beets and season with salt and toss with a bit of olive oil.

Save your overripe peaches for dessert… The best peaches for this salad are just ripe or slightly underripe, so that they hold up to grilling and they’ll keep a firm texture in the salad. Keep the skins on, remove the pits, then toss with olive oil and season with salt.

You can use an outdoor grill, but I prefer my trusty cast iron grill pan. Even on the stovetop, they still taste smoky and wood-fired. Sear the peach slices over high heat for about one minute for each side.

Lastly, make the dressing. This is a dairy-free honey and citrus vinaigrette with lots of basil. Combine a quarter cup of freshly squeezed orange juice and two tablespoons of lemon juice with olive oil, honey, a big clove of garlic and lots of basil leaves. Use a blender, food processor or an immersion blender to puree and emulsify the dressing. The honey and garlic are natural emulsifiers, which means they’ll work to hold the oil and the citrus juices together. If the dressing sits in the fridge for a bit, it will separate somewhat. Just give it a good stir or shake to recombine.

Build the Peach Beet Salad with handfuls of tender lettuce like green leaf, butter, gem or a Spring mix, then layer the beets and peaches, toss with the dressing and top with the quick-pickled shallots and fresh basil leaves. (You’ll have more shallots than you need, but they’ll keep in the fridge for a week or so.) It’s a salad meant for warm evenings on the porch, and compliments any summer grilling feast.

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Peach Beet Salad (Dairy-Free)

5 from 1 vote

Sweet peaches and earthy roasted beets come together in a vibrant seasonal salad finished with a citrus basil vinaigrette. Dairy-free, AIP and Paleo.

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Total Time:2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Christina Marche

Ingredients

For the Pickled Shallots

• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tsp coconut sugar
• ½ cup sliced shallots

For the Citrus Vinaigrette

• ⅓ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 6-8 large basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp honey
• ½ tsp Kosher salt

For the salad

• 2½ lb beets (4-6 beets)
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tsp
• 1 tsp Kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 2½ lb peaches (4-6 peaches)
• 4 cups tender lettuces or spring mix

Instructions

Pickle the shallots

• In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, water and coconut sugar to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
• Pour over the sliced shallots in a heatproof jar and chill for at least 45 minutes or up to a day.

Make the dressing

• Blend the olive oil, orange and lemon juices, basil, garlic, honey and a half-teaspoon of salt until smooth. Season to taste.

Roast the beets

• Scrub the beets, trim the tops and root tips. Use two tablespoons of oil to coat the beets and season with a teaspoon of salt.
• Wrap each beet individually in foil and roast at 425° until fork-tender, about 45 minutes for small beets, up to 1½ hours for large.
• Once cool enough to handle, rub off the skins using a towel or paper towel, and slice.

Grill the peaches

• Halve and pit the peaches, slice into large pieces, then toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
• Grill over high heat until lightly charred, about 1 to 2 minutes per side.

Assemble the salad

• Layer lettuces with beets and grilled peaches, top with pickled shallots and more basil if you like, and toss with the vinaigrette.

Course: Salad

Cuisine: AIP, AIP Modified, Paleo