Grilled Peach Salad with Blue Cheese & Toasted Almonds {Naptime Everyday}

This summer I’ve been all about peaches. I’ve always loved peaches but this year they seem especially ripe and appealing. It also helps that my daughter has started enjoying them  – the past few years she has had no interest in them whatsoever which was a bit of a bummer. When we were at the Cooperstown Farmer’s Market on Saturday I picked up a big bag in anticipation of a fresh peach almond galette and a savory peach salad with blue cheese and toasted almonds.

This is one of our favorite savory summer salads because we love the pairing of sweet peaches, tangy cheese, and salty toasted almonds. Combined in one bowl with a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette it is a pitch perfect melange of savory, sweet, and tart. In fact, I’ve been making this salad so frequently I’ve begun riffing on the entire fruit/cheese/nut combination. So far we’ve had strawberry/goat/pecan, cherry/feta/walnut, and this peach combination. It is a formula that always seems to work.

I usually speed up the salad making process by whipping up the fresh balsamic reduction in the morning, making sure all of our lettuces are washed, and toasting the almonds. At dinner time we grill the peaches, scatter in the blue cheese, and toss everything together. I find it speedier and more efficient to have the make-ahead parts set to go like this because then it really just becomes a matter of tossing everything together at the end of the day.