Peach and Vidalia salad – Georgia at it’s finest

I’ve been looking at the 100 mile diet challenge and doing some research on where I live; Atlanta Georgia. This would be a simpler place to do the challenge than many places since GA is largely an agrarian state. Georgia is known for peaches and peanuts and historically cotton and tobacco but GA is also home to the US’s largest roaster poultry industry, it raises pork, chicken, dairy, beef and a huge variety of crops. In fact I even found locally produced olive oil and wheat flour.

I’m not ready to jump off into the 100 mile deep-end yet but I’m experimenting. My latest experiment was with a salad comprising locally grown butter lettuce, grilled GA white peaches, sweet Vidalia onions, feta cheese and a Dijon vinaigrette. Sounds strange at first but the flavors complement each other amazingly well.

I started with a local Georgia Vidalia onion and a couple of fresh white flesh peaches I got at Harry’s along with some fresh locally grown butter lettuce. Vidalia onions are not your standards yellow onions, they are sweet and get even sweeter when cooked or roasted. The white peaches are less sweet than the yellow and are great for grilling.

Ingredients:

1 ripe white peach, pitted and cut into quarters
1 Vidalia onion, sliced into ¼ inch thick slices
1 head butter lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing:
¼ c sherry or apple cider vinegar
½ c olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp minced garlic

Preparation:
Start by heating a grill or as in my case – a grill pan, over medium high heat. Brush the peaches and the onions with extra virgin olive oil and place onto a pre-heated grill.
Grill until the peaches have great grill marks and are softened, do the same with the onions.

For the dressing combine all ingredients and whisk well with a wire whisk or a fork. Add the olive oil in a steady stream whisking all the while to form an emulsion.

In a large bowl, combine the torn lettuce with the peaches, onions and dressing (just enough to make the lettuce glisten – don’t overdress) and toss to coat. Sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese and serve room temperature.

I still haven’t decided to do a “Just Georgia” challenge because I love my spices and condiments but if the bulk of my ingredients are from Georgia, that must count for something?