Nectarine and Fig Summer Salad with Crispy Pancetta.
This salad is blowing up my entire summer.
It has EVERYTHING.
It has figs. It has nectarines. It has crispy pancetta slices and goat cheese and avocado and omg PISTACHIOS. It has a crazy nectarine vinaigrette that I could probably drink out of a straw right now because I want all things tart and briney and vinegary. It’s the perfect mix of flavors and textures that I am LOV.ING.
It makes me not hate Monday.
This was such a welcomed change – a few weeks ago I finally ate a salad and it tasted SO good. Complicated flavor combos haven’t been doing me any favors lately and this was one of the first trashed up salads I could get behind.
Let’s be real. Probably because of the pancetta. Of course. I’m sure.
BUT!
That’s just how it goes.
This is like that weeknight salad that you aren’t quite sure can pass for dinner but can totally pass for dinner. It’s my summer version of this salad. It can also be a weekend salad and then you can add extra goat cheese and pancetta and essentially eat a salad of goat cheese and pancetta with a side of greens… perhaps while starting to watch the entire series of the west wing again because you can’t sleep and the characters feel like your friends.
Is that sad? It was like midnight. They are my midnight friends. I should probably start living in 2014 and not 2006.
The perfect accompaniment to this salad is a fresh baguette. Now THAT is a complete meal. The second I made us (and yes, I say “us” but no, my husband would never classify this as a real meal – he adds chicken) I added the softest on the inside but crustiest on the outside baguette and it was heaven. It makes for the perfect ending too because the residual dressing is sweet and savory.
(And then you add extra goat cheese. Duh.)
It will just make you feel good!
And full. And happy. And maybe like you want six more baguettes.
Nectarine and Fig Summer Salad with Crispy Pancetta
Ingredients
- 4 cups spring greens
- 2 cups baby arugula
- 8 slices of pancetta, fried
- 2 nectarines, sliced
- 1 cup fresh figs, quartered
- 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped pistachios
- a pinch of salt and pepper
nectarine vinaigrette
- 1 large nectarine, peeled and cubed
- 1/4 cup golden balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 garlic clove, freshly grated
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Add the greens and arugula to a large bowl and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Add the pancetta, sliced nectarines, figs, goat cheese, avocado and pistachio to the greens and toss as desired. Dress with the nectarine vinaigrette!
nectarine vinaigrette
- Add the nectarine cubes to a blender or food processor and blend until completely pureed. I have a vitamix and it purees it completely, but if your blender leaves some chunks, you can add a little water to the blender, blend it and then strain out the juice. Combine the nectarine puree, vinegar, hoey, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl and whisk together. Stream in the olive oil while constantly whisking until the dressing comes together. Store in the fridge for up to one week.
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I appreciate you so much!
I mean this classifies as eating color right?
88 Comments on “Nectarine and Fig Summer Salad with Crispy Pancetta.”
We have a fig bush with an abundance of the sweetest figs. Had this for supper 2 nights this week and LOVE it!!! It’s become my new summertime favorite salad.
Wow!! this looks amazing! you always manage to make salads so appetizing! Cant wait to try it!!!
Gorgeous summer stuff. i wish it was summer
looks divine!!!!
Totally my kind of salad- so gorgeous!
This is salad looks amazing!
Yup. This is my next salad.
Question: I don’t have any kind of blender or food processor situation. Do you think just a plain balsamic vinaigrette would work? Or would that throw the flavors off?
Dang.
I need a two thumbs up emoji!!
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I made a double batch of this dressing last weekend and it is basically gone already. Soooo delicious…I told my husband it was so good I could have drank it on its own, I didn’t – savored on salads all week. Definitely will be making another batch this weekend.
I have eaten this salad now three times in the last week. Thank you. Just thank you! :)
PS… used honey goat cheese… just amazeballs with the honey-nectarine dressing!
I just want you to know I have made three versions of this salad in the past week. ALL were amazing (say I and our three sets of guests who enjoyed it as well) so THANK YOU! I even kept the leftovers the last time, and in the dressing the nectarines got kind of a light pickling from the dressing. (Ran out of balsamic that time and used rice vinegar.) It was divine.
This looks pretty filling, healthy, easy to make and picture perfect.
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Yup. This is my next salad.
Question: I don’t have any kind of blender or food processor situation. Do you think just a plain balsamic vinaigrette would work? Or would that throw the flavors off?
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I’m having a hard time finding fresh figs. Do you think dried would work?
One of my go to Summer salads when my fig tree is dropping fruit daily. Bright and sunny and a whole lot of flavour going on.