Looking for a light, fresh, summer dinner? Try this Healthy Summer Peach Arugula Salad. It’s whole 30, paleo friendly + absolutely delicious! Made with fresh juicy peaches, summer raspberries, avocados + pecans, it’s loaded with some of my favorite things!
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Have you ever taken a bite of something and thought ‘Man, that just tastes like XYZ season’? I’m talking about during the holidays, when you take a bite of your gram’s classic Christmas cookies and it just ‘tastes’ like Christmas. Or when it’s a cool September day and you bite into a local, fresh apple – it just ‘tastes’ like fall. Well this Healthy Summer Peach Arugula Salad ‘tastes’ JUST like Summer. That’s the only way I can describe it!
Now you might be looking at this and thinking…well.. a salad isn’t what I think of when I think of the taste of summer. Maybe it’s a giant ice cream cone melting as you eat it in the sun, or a piña colada that you sip on by the beach. Those are things I think of when I think of the taste of summer… but now I think of this salad too.
In the summer time, I’m a total sucker for locally grown produce. We live in Connecticut, so there isn’t much produce beyond apples after about August, so I savor it while I can all summer long (while being jealous of all the people on the West Coast that can get yummy fresh berries all winter long!).
I’m all about being a bargain shopper, but when it comes to good local produce, I’m always willing to spend a little extra money to support local farms + get the best quality. When I saw these giant peaches at the farmers market, they were practically calling my name. I may or may not have gone overboard on buying them, and suddenly I had an abundance of perfectly ripe peaches. As delicious as they are, there are only so many peaches you can eat in a day, so I had to get creative in how I used them up. I subbed them for the berries in these Healthy Berry Overnight Oats, used them in this Healthy Apple Peach Cake, and I even put some in this Healthy Honey Mint Lemonade which was SUPER delicious! Eventually I ran out of other ideas, so I did what I do with any leftover piece of fruit… just throw it on a salad!
I’m so glad I decided to do that.. because it was SO good. The peaches were so juicy I barely even needed dressing, and when paired with peppery arugula, creamy avocado, pecans + sweet raspberries.. it was seriously the perfect combo!
Healthy Summer Peach Arugula Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups arugula
- 1/2 cup sliced peaches sliced thinly
- ¼ cup raspberries
- 1/4 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup avocado slices (approx 1/2 an avocado)
- 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
Instructions
- In two bowls, place 2 cups arugula.
- Top with peaches, raspberries, pecans, avocado + hemp seeds
- Toss with your favorite dressing + enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Things we used for this recipe: pecans (or candied pecans – not whole 30, but super delicious!), hemp seeds, salad bowls
You better believe I practically ran to the farmer’s market next week to get more peaches. I’m still not sick of them, and with this salad in the lunch time rotation – I don’t think I will be any time soon!
cakespy says
This certainly looks like one of those “tastes like summer” dishes! I especially love the addition of avocado. It looks like an incredible melange of flavors, and it’s undoubtedly beautiful.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much! The avocado is great for balancing out all of the other salad add-ins. So yummy!