All time favourite alert!

Please don’t judge this recipe by its name, it may sound a bit pretentious but it’s truly not… Please, please try it – you won’t be disappointed!

• It’s SO good that we have declared it as one of our top 5 dinners. 
• It’s SO good that we look for mains to have it with. 
• It’s SO good that I’ve made it for the same dinner guests several times – I apologise each time but they insist they love it too, and the empty plates seem to prove it!

The original recipe for this salad is from the super talented Whitewater Cooks author Shelley Adams, and is featured in her book Whitewater Cooks More Beautiful Food. A friend from Vancouver gifted me with one of her books and they’re chock full of deliciousness – do check her out. Whilst the original is delicious and decadent with unctuous burratta cheese, it’s too rich and oozy for me! not to mention too hard to find here in my little backwater. I prefer to use fresh mozzarella or bocconcini which is lighter-tasting, and sometimes even comes in light versions (if you’re lucky enough to have access to it).  So here’s my everyday, calorie controlled version. Please do try it, I hope you’ll love it as much as we do.

This recipe makes a HUGE platter that we have for a main meal between two of us. It has an extremely low calorie count considering the amount you get and it’s deliciousness factor. We usually have it with breaded chicken tenders from the freezer – it’s worth researching low calorie options for this, I’ve found Pinty’s Jumbo Chicken Fillets provide excellent calories for the quality, and bring the complete meal to around 500 calories (depending on how much chicken you want).

Fresh peaches first. It doesn’t matter if they’re not in season – it’s actually best for them to be not too soft anyway. De-stone your peach and cut it into 12 segments. Set a non stick frying pan to heat on a med high flame. Line the peach segments up on board and drizzle each segment with balsamic glaze, try to get a little on each side (a little goes a long way).  

When your pan is hot, place the peaches cut side down for a minute each side. You want the glaze and natural sugars to caramelize but not burn. Remove them back to your board once they’re caramelized and a bit blackened.

Place the salad leaves onto a platter. I prefer a spring mix, or baby romaine mix. Tear or cut up the fresh basil leaves and scatter them over the salad. Try not to miss this step… it’s so worth is as you get a hit of fresh basil as you eat. I even bought a basil plant from the supermarket purely for this dish!

Drizzle it all with some lemon juice… the juice you get in the plastic lemon-shaped bottles is fine (not to mention, quick and easy). Gently toss the leaves and basil to distribute the lemon juice and give the leaves a nice shine. Place the caramelized peaches in and around the salad leaves.

Tear up two slices of prosciutto, having removed any visible fat from the edge, and tuck them around the salad. Tear up the bocconcini and scatter around too.

Top with freshly ground black pepper and crumble a pinch of sea salt over it all to taste. Finish with a scant zigzag drizzle of balsamic glaze. Enjoy!

RECIPE: Prosciutto, Peach & Balsamic Salad

Serves 2 huge portions for a main meal @ 175 calories per serving. Delicious served with breaded chicken tenders.

Ingredients:

• 1 box or bag of Mixed salad leaves
• 4 large basil leaves
• 1 tsp Lemon juice
• 1 Fresh peach
• Balsamic glaze (about a teaspoon, 12g)
• 2 slices prosciutto, visible fat removed
• 2 fresh bocconcini balls
• Freshly milled black pepper
• Sea salt

Method

• Cut peach into 12 segments, line them up on a board and drizzle with balsamic glaze trying to get a little on each side ( a little goes a long way)
• Put the peaches into hot non-stick frying pan. Leave for 1 min till caramelized , turn and caramelize the other side for another minute. Remove from pan.
• Put salad leaves on a large platter
• Tear basil leaves small and scatter over the salad
• Squeeze lemon juice all over and toss
• Place the grilled peaches around the salad
• Remove the visible fat from the edge of the prosciutto, and tear it into bite-sized pieces and curl them amongst the salad leaves
• Tear the bocconcini into small lumps and dot around the salad
• Add freshly ground black pepper to taste, and crumble a pinch of sea salt over it all.
• Drizzle with a scant zigzag of balsamic glaze