nectarine salad with blue cheese

While I was on my honeymoon, I posted a recipe for Fig and Brie Panini that started, "Guess what I should not be eating four days before my wedding?  This."

But in addition to my rare moment of cheesy sandwich-y goodness, I was also eating a lot, LOT of salads.  And I will readily admit that most of those salads came from my favorite take-out places, I also came up with a few really good ones of my own.

(And I think my little salad diet worked pretty well.  The proof?  There is now a photo of me.  In a bikini.  On the internet.)

But, that aside, this was a perfect fresh summer salad, using almost entirely ingredients from our CSA share.  Fresh summer lettuce, grated carrots, and the first nectarines of summer, along with the one ingredient that, in my mind, makes everything taste better.  Blue cheese (no, it's not bacon, but that was a good guess).

I am a lazy person who uses simple vinaigrettes for almost all her salad dressings.  Creamy dressings don't really do it for me, although now that I'm off the pre-wedding diet, I might be experimenting with them more.  Really all I want in a salad is fresh, tasty and light food, that gives me energy and makes me feel good about what I'm eating. This salad? Each of those requirements were met, without fail.

In other news, life as a newlywed is wonderful.  We're settling back into real life after an amazing honeymoon, and it's even better than it was to be engaged!  I'm in one of those phases where I can actually recognize right now how happy I am, and how lucky I am, and I hope that five years from now, or twenty years from now, I'll be able to remember what a wonderful feeling this was.  And hopefully it will be even more wonderful when we have kids, grandkids even, and to remember that it all started right now.

Nectarine Salad with Blue Cheese

INGREDIENTS

2 small nectarines, sliced into 1/4" slices

1 large carrot, grated

6 ounces romaine lettuce, washed and dried and cut into 1" pieces

4 ounces roquefort cheese, crumbled

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp raspberry mustard

Salt

Pepper

DIRECTIONS

Whisk together mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. In a slow stream, whisk in the olive oil until combined into a vinaigrette. Toss with nectarine slices, grated carrot and romaine lettuce until thoroughly combined. Plate and drizzle blue cheese over the top of the salads. Serve.

Four servings.