Peach and Arugula or Sorrel Salad with honey/balsalmic vinaigrette
It’s been a trying time for us gardeners here. Fending off garden pests seems to be the topic of discussion for our last several posts. Recently, it’s having to fend off possums from our brandywine and sun gold tomato plants. Now it’s having to beat our dogs to our white peaches. Obviously they have good taste just like the possums. These dogs just LOVE to eat the white peaches, on and off the tree.
Peach thief smelling the goods first, checking for ripeness.
These clever canine critters have their strategy. Yes, we’ve watched them from a distance and studied their peach stealing behaviors. Dante, the big Rhodesian Ridgeback, will walk under the lower branches and keep nudging at them, using the attributes of his big snout and tall back. Sierra, the smaller white Boxer, will play with her balls and “accidentally” run into the trunk of the tree. The delicate white peaches will then succumb to all the snout nudging, body slamming dog techniques and drop to the ground, falling prey to the canine pests.
Peach thief taste testing the peach, checking for readiness
It can be quite funny to watch our dogs sit under the tree, stare up at the cache of peaches, then strategize on how to bring them to the ground. But it’s not so funny when we see them tear into the soft, sweet, juicy, drippy flesh of our prized peach bounty. Like any gardener who would defend his fruit bounty, we’d chase them off with our brooms, shooing them away from the ripe fallen peaches and devour them ourselves. Yeah, they can and should watch from afar as us gardeners eat what is rightfully ours, after a seasons hard work of trimming, watering and fertilizing the tree!
Peach thief waiting, hoping for a hailstorm of peaches to drop
Obviously it’s a fight against nature, pests, possums, rats, dogs and all to keep them away from the gardens bounty. We don’t mind sharing the fruit with the pups, certainly not all. We’re kind, generous folks who feel that the dogs are entitled to some fruit, but at least leave some for us too!
Happy gardener collecting peaches for human consumption
There’s so many white peach dishes we have planned during the next week. It’s really exciting to finally see our little tree burdened with so much fruit. So we collected the fallen fruit, which are the really ripe and ready ones and made another simple salad with them. Our garden sorrel is a bright, tart and fresh accompaniment to the lush, sweet peaches. The mild, grassy flavor of the sorrel also brights out the true sweetness of the peaches too. We had more peaches than sorrel in the salad because too much of the sorrel’s sourness would overpower the sweet peach fruit. The vinaigrette is a very light and cheery dressing that ties the two contrasting ingredients together nicely, but it doesn’t overpower the star of the salad, the white peaches.
White Peach & Arugula/Sorrel Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480ml) loosely packed Arugula or Sorrel leaves
- 2 medium ripe White Peaches , sliced
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) Honey
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) Grape Seed oil
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) Balsamic Vinegar
- optional - fresh Lemon Zest from 1/2 medium lemon
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/4 teaspoon (1ml) vanilla extract
- Kosher or Sea Salt , to taste
- fresh cracked Black Pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Whisk together dressing ingredients (honey, grapeseed oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest (optional), lemon juice, vanilla, salt, & pepper) in bowl.
- If using sorrel leaves, tear into bite sized pieces. Put torn up sorrel leaves or arugula leaves and sliced peaches in large bowl.
- Dress with salad with vinaigrette. Top with additional lemon zest if desired.
Your dogs sound much more discerning than the average dog (I’d hate to tell you some of the things my dog has eaten over the years). Of course, white peaches! — how could anyone resist them?
I am so green with envy over those peaches! Everything else around here is green, too. Bumper crops of grasshoppers and heirloom zucchinis. Don’t those ingredients inspire you, marvelous chefs?? LOL. I’ll try the vinaigrette at least. Not on the grasshoppers though. 😉
So, are your dogs vegetarian? (lol) They are so cute. The salad looks great and I never heard of sorrel before but I checked it out in wiki and by the description they give, it sounds great. If I had some of these leaves I would stuff them and make dolmades as they look like silver beat and today I stuffed silver beat leaves.
lol, I could see my dogs doing that, but being much less subtle about it. Those photos are great, and as always, I am so jealous of your garden and the beautiful produce you guys get from it. One of these days….
I had no idea that dogs would want anything to do with peaches. But it makes sense though, considering that the peaches probably smell fantastic.
Really, what are Dante and Sierra to do? Once those peaches ‘accidentally’ hit the ground, it would be a pity for them to go to waste.
wow congrats on your wonderful, lovely and abundant peach harvest! The photos of your doggies trying to steal the peaches are so beautiful and adorable ^_^
Peaches and puppies, what a sweet combination. Your peaches look wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
“Rhodesian Ridgeback Dogs” keyword search on Google blogs brought me to your posting. I am just learning about blogging, and so am interested in your blog experiences, if you don’t mind. http://www.PetFriendsOnline.blogspot.com is my first blog attempt focusing on Emma, my Rhodesian Ridgeback. Any comments on your blog experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Deborah Hamel
hahaha.. the photos of the dogs and the peaches are priceless!
And the salad is lovely too! I love white peaches, probably as much as your dogs. 🙂
I am absolutely swooning over those peaches and that lovely tree! Who could blame the dogs for trying to swipe a few! If I were your neighbor, you’d have to set a trap for me too! 😉
I’ll bet your salad was just wonderful. It looks it!
Silly pups! They’ve got good taste, at least. I envy you your peach tree. Must plant one here. I know they do well.
And I love sorrel, too. Great-looking salad.
They just want a peach or two. 🙂
Great salad.
Well, you could wait for the tree to grow a lot taller– and watch as your dogs start leaping high enough to win contests, hahaha! That first pic with Sierra is hilarious. It looks like she haphazardly walked into a peach and got the surprise of her life. But they are both equally adorable. Apparently you’ve taught your kids enough values so that they’d share (er… kind of, if not for the brooms and chasing) and now we have this beautiful salad! I love peaches in salad 🙂
Those peaches are to die for! And with Sorrel? Heaven! Just don’t serve me the one the dog licked, K? 😉
Over the top beautiful peaches! What wonderful photos of the dogs – amazing. I gave up trying to get tomatoes this year because one or all of the above go to them first the last three years. Just doesn’t seem worth it. Really gorgeous peaches.
oh, no! I would set up a fort to protect those beauties! I think it’s because they’re my first plants, but I don’t know what I would do if my basil or rosemary plants start getting attacked by garden pests… good luck!!