One of the body-loving ways I love to welcome in the summer months, is by adding more fresh fruits to my salad bowls. Fruits provide a punch of sweetness and tangy flavour, and many of them are naturally low carb making them the perfecting salad topping for weight loss. Summer fruits provide an excellent, all-natural source of essential vitamins and minerals, dietary fibre, flavonoids and antioxidants. Ready to fire up the BBQ, let's get cooking with my famous Grilled Peach Summer salad...
Summer salads are the perfect meal on a sizzling hot day when the temperature is hitting those high thirties. Fresh fruit and summer salad ingredients are high-water content vegetables making a fresh bowl salad very hydrating in the summer heat. With the addition of fruit in your salad, even a small serving can increase these hydrating effects and provide a wonderfully sweet kick to your bowl.
What Fruits Go Well In Salads?
It all comes down to your personal taste, and the sky is the limit really, but some pairings are practically nice. The key is to use fruit sparingly so its not taking over the whole salad bowl or increasing your carb count. Try to experiment with a summer fruit salad, try these naturally low carb ingredients:
apple, pear, and Asian Nashi pears pair beautifully with walnuts and kale
berries (all types) always go well with dark, leafy greens like spinach and a little feta
grapes, kiwi and mango are great in classic salads with a little diced cheddar
rock melon, honeydew and watermelon pair nicely with arugula or endive greens
oranges, mandarins and grapefruit are delicious tougher salad greens like Romaine
Are Fruit Salad Bowls Very Healthy?
Fruit most certainly is--if you don't go too overboard. You really only need a small handful (1/4 cup) of fresh fruit to sprinkle over top or toss with the greens. In many cases, the juices mean you won't feel the need for dressing--a good thing and a great way to keep your carb count low! For those watching their A1C or blood sugar levels, fruits that are high fibre can easily be enjoyed. Think blueberries, mango, strawberries, raspberries and yes, peaches. As a diabetic, I moderate my intake and use a lot of berries for the this very reason. A good rule of thumb for low carb or diabetics, its to always pair your salad with a lean protein source and a healthy fat for blood sugar balance.
Key Ingredients Used
Peaches offer a deliciously sweet, any-time snack and are fabulous eaten whole or sliced up in fruit or vegetable salads, blended in smoothies, baked into muffins, added to desserts, and of course, in pavlova. However, when you grill peaches, the flesh softens into this super yummy, smoky-sweet flavour and caramelized texture that I promise you'll come to love as much as my family does.
On A Budget?
Choose fruits and salad greens that are in season to stretch your budget as far as possible. As summer approaches, delicious fruits such as blueberries, grapes, mangos, nectarines, peaches, raspberries, strawberries are plentiful and usually pretty cheap. Another cheap way to enjoy fruits it to buy frozen. In many cases, the fruit is frozen the day it is picked, and this helps to preserve all the antioxidants and nutrients.
Food Sensitivities
What if I am allergic to peaches? The most common allergic reactions to peaches begins with itching of mouth and throat, redness and swelling of the lips, usually within the 15 minutes after eating the fruit. These symptoms relapse 15 to 60 minutes later. This is known as the “oral allergy syndrome”. If you have sensitives to other stone fruit, you may want to give peaches a miss, and try substituting with mango which has a similar texture and sweet taste.
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How To Make Grilled Peach Salad
This low carb, summer salad recipe will take your summer BBQ game to a whole new levels with it's sweet, smoky flavour of grilled peaches, fresh greens, and zesty dressing—it's a flavour explosion that will delight your taste buds. Before you know it, you'll be tossing all sorts of fruits on the grill. If you're not firing up the BBQ any time soon, no worries, you can make this tasty salad using a fry pan or sizzling hot skillet.
Grilled Peach Summer Salad Recipe |
Ingredients |
|
Method |
Rinse the peaches and leave the skin on (this is why its recommended you use organic). Chop into thin quarters for grilling. Baste with a little olive oil to avoid the flesh sticking to the grill. Fire up the BBQ and cook until fragrant. Flip and cook on the other side. It usually only takes 5-7 minutes per side on a hot BBQ. If you like a little crunch, cook for less. The longer the fruit cooks, the softer it gets. Remove from the BBQ and toss with your salad greens. |
Other Recipe Ideas
Don't be shy to experiment. Grilled peaches add a smoky-sweet flavour and caramelised texture that pairs nicely with other grilled foods such as chicken, salmon or white fish, and even other veggies like capsicums, eggplant, onions and zucchini. Toss the over pasta salad, low carb zucchini noodles, or top your favourite stir fry with a punch of sweetness.
And don't just limit yourself to peaches, once you get started grilling fruit, it is addictive. Try experimenting with other fleshy fruits such as mango, nectarines, pineapple, pears, strawberries, and even watermelon. I promise you, its so good you won't think of summer without grilled fruit salads!
One Last Thing, Before You Go...
If you really enjoy these recipes... stick around with a cup of peppermint tea and browse this blog for more clean eating recipes, nutrition and healthy eating guides, and be sure to grab my free Wholefood Recipe Collection, click here. You'll receive my Nutritionist-approved clean eating recipes to sample this week. Learn how to ease into healthy, wholefood eating that won't take you hours in the kitchen to eat clean and healthy. Come grab a copy, click here.
Emma Lisa, Nutritionist & Women's Practitioner
Emma Lisa is a Nutritionist & Women's Health Practitioner with over 14+ years experience in wholefood nutrition, meal planning and health coaching. She is a published cookbook author, passionate food recipe creator and lifestyle blogger, and an advocate for women's health and anti-diet culture. When she's not in clinic, Emma is mum to five kids, in her test kitchen and sharing her creative talents as a wellness content creator. She lives in Sydney, Australia. FOLLOW: Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
Healthy + happiness,
Emma Lisa xx
HEALTH & NUTRITION PRACTITIONER
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