Imagine a broiling southern Saturday: you’re stocked with veggies from a pleasant morning at the farmers market, you spent the whole day baking zucchini bread, and now it’s sweltering hot at noontime and you can’t bear being by the oven any longer (as far as problems go, I guess that’s not a bad one to have!) Are the mountains supposed to get this hot? I’m starting to crave fall flavors, but since summer still seems to be sticking around, I might as well make the most of it’s beautiful produce. This salad takes all the good things about that hot, sticky end of summer and throws them into one light and refreshing dish: peaches, corn, and cherry tomatoes grilled to sweet perfection on a bed of arugula and (my favorite) sunflower shoots, topped with balsamic and a dollop of basil pesto. Sounds like summer, amiright?

Ingredients

*Note: this serves one, but if you want to increase the ratios for a crowd, it shouldn’t be that hard (maybe increase the arugula though, I like lots of not-green stuff in my salads!)

• 1/2 an ear of corn
• 1 medium or small peach, quartered
• Handful of cherry tomatoes
• As much arugula and sunflower shoots as you like—I used about a cup, but I like lots of other stuff in my salads!
• 1 tbsp basil pesto
• 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Optional add-ins: slivered almonds, olive oil, grilled zucchini

Directions

1. Place grill on high and let it heat while you prep the fruits and veggies
2. Dice peach and stick tomatoes on a skewer. Coat peach, corn, and tomatoes in olive oil and drizzle peach with balsamic
3. Grill for 10-15 minutes, turning every few minutes, or until dark grill marks appear
4. Place a bed of arugula and sunflower shoots in a bowl. Top with peach, corn, tomatoes, pesto, and a drizzle of balsamic