Perseverance Peach Salad

I am not sure when I decided to just “go for it.” The writing, the catering, the photography, the pie business, the break away from the traditional 9 – 5 I so deeply despise.

One of my first freeform gigs was a 20 person event I catered for a 70th birthday in Richmond. Sure…I’d sold cakes before, cooked the occasional dinner party for friends; but a paid gig, cooking for mostly strangers, in someone else’s house, well that I hadn’t tried yet.

But when asked, I confidently accepted the challenge and got to work planning a menu that would be virtually stress-free but make me appear vaguely professional. I had graduated culinary school after all. I had worked as a chef in New York (which apparently is some badge of something). I could do this.

For the first course, I decided to make my Grilled Peach Salad. Grilling easily adds an essence of effort which seemed appropriate for receiving a pay check. Though, for the event, easy didn’t seem to be on the menu. I prepped my peaches and waited for the grill to heat – actually looking forward to escaping the kitchen and getting a bit of fresh air. It was one of those spectacular Virginia summer days. Blue sky, white clouds, light breeze. Okay heavier breeze. Why is it getting dark out? My god is that thunder? What is happening!?

In the blink of an eye, the weather had turned from picturesque to apocalyptic and I still had peaches to grill. I grabbed an umbrella and braved it. As rain pounded down on me and the skies thundered angrily, I did my best to keep my calm, hold an umbrella and turn peaches. When the last one just finished charring, I snatched it up, closed the grill and dashed into the event space looking as composed as possible but undeniably storm-worn.

Guests had already started to arrive, so I dried off and got to plating. As the last party participant sat, the last plate of salad did too. And no one was the wiser to my wet weather adventure as they all dug in.

The storm raged outside while I served two more courses. Guests laughed and ate, and drank, and ate more. There wasn’t a spot of food left in the end. The party goers shuffled out, full of food and kind words, to brave the still swirling storm. I stayed up to clean the kitchen and nibble on a bite of grilled peach I’d saved. It tasted sweet — almost like success — but certainly like perseverance down a new path. My own.

Here’s my recipe:

To start, measure out all the ingredients for the dressing.

Whisk together the apple cider vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, poppy seeds, salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking until the mixture is emulsified.

Set the dressing aside while you grill the peaches.

Slice the peaches and toss with the vegetable oil to coat.

Grill the peaches for 4 to 5 minutes per side until charred.

To assemble the salad, toss the arugula with the peaches, blueberries, almonds and your desired level of the dressing.

Look at how professional that looks!