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!
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You can get the nutrition facts for this recipe here.
cakespy
August 7, 2017 at 6:25 amThis 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
August 7, 2017 at 7:07 amThank you so much! The avocado is great for balancing out all of the other salad add-ins. So yummy!