Stone Fruit Salad with Root Veg and Blueberry Basil Vinaigrette
Barely ripe stone fruits are cubed, as are lightly cooked, still crunchy sweet potatoes and beets. The bright red and orange mix is tossed with other veggies, then drizzled with a blueberry basil vinaigrette for a tangy, crunchy, bright salad with representatives from every color of the rainbow!
Servings: 4
Calories: 327kcal
Ingredients
Fruits and Vegetables, all cut into 1/2" cubes
- 2 yellow peaches medium, not huge
- 2 red plums medium, not huge
- 1 cup red beet about 1 medium
- 1 cup golden beet about 1 medium
- 1 cup sweet potato about 1 medium
- 1 yellow sweet pepper can sub orange or red
- 1 granny smith apple
- 1/2 red onion medium, cubed smaller
Blueberry Basil Vinaigrette Ingredients
- 1/4 cup frozen blueberries or 1/3 cup fresh
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice plus some for apple cubes
- 1/2 clove garlic use full if quite small
- 1/2 large shallot
- 12 leaves fresh basil
- 1 tbsp maple syrup sub honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
If you want to make the vinaigrette spicy with warming spices
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1/4 tsp cumin ground
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp fresh grated ginger tip of pinky finger sized nub of ginger root
Garnishes
- snipped fresh herbs i.e. basil, fennel flowers, thyme, mint, savory, sage
- greens for an "under garnish" on which to place the salad :) i.e shaved raw brussel sprouts, arugula, small leaves or pieces of kale, spinach
Instructions
Make the vinaigrette
- Add all ingredients (include spices and ginger if you choose the spicy version) to a blender and blitz until the vinaigrette emulsifies and the blueberries are completely pureed. This will mean there are little to no bits of blueberry skin as specs, and the liquid will be pure purple. Set aside to chill. See notes.
Blanch the beets and sweet potatoes
- Cut the red beet, golden beet and sweet potato into 1/2" cubes. Keep separate.
- Bring 1" or so of water to boil in a soup pot and drop in just the cubed golden beets. Cook for 4-5 min and scoop out leaving water behind. Taste to be sure they are cooked but still have a crunch/bite, and are not mushy at all. drain and rinse with cool water to stop cooking. drain on paper towels.
- Repeat the process with the sweet potatoes, and finally the red beets, which can be poured into sieve to drain, as the last vegetable. See notes.
Finish the salad
- Cube the rest of the veggies (the red onion can be a bit smaller) and the fruits.
- Snip the fresh herbs up that you want to use, (or just snip over serving platter).
Plate, Serve the salad
- Choose how to serve the salad. I recommend arranging the veggies and apple as shown in photos, drizzling the vinaigrette over it, and garnishing with herbs and blueberries, then adding the cubed stone fruits to individual plates when served. This is because the stone fruits are more prone to become mushy and break down, once tossed around too much.
- The salad can be served on plates or in bowls, with the blueberry vinaigrette drizzled over everything. Or, you can fully toss the veggies and fruits in the vinaigrette and then serve over some greens. Both options are delicious!
Notes
Blueberries- I have made this vinaigrette with frozen as well as fresh berries. I prefer frozen, as it creates a slightly less bulky liquid, if you will, but both taste delicious! Fresh berries are always nice for garnish as well.
Spicy Blueberry Vinaigrette- I love the spicy version of this vinaigrette. The additional ingredients are warming spices and fresh ginger that give the dressing a Fall like, or just a more zippy flavor. Highly recommend.
Blanching the beets- the red beets are blanched last because they will turn the water red.
Nutrition
Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 659mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin C: 73mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg | Magnesium: 45mg | Net Carbohydrates: 34g