Arugula, nectarine, and blueberry salad

It's hard to beat the fruit at this time of year, isn't it? Although I'm tempted by pretty much everything the market has to offer, blueberries, peaches, and nectarines are the staples that I buy every week. Usually I eat the fruit plain, but today I decided to use it in a nice summery salad. I used arugula for the base because I like how its peppery bite pairs with sweeter ingredients, and threw in a handful of blueberries. I decided to add nectarines which weren't quite ripe because I wanted them to be a bit crunchy, with a sweet-tart flavor. Blue cheese complemented the fruit perfectly, and toasted walnuts added some crunch. With its combination of sweet and savory flavors, this salad was a nice addition to our dinner and really took advantage of the gorgeous summer fruit and greens.

Arugula, nectarine, and blueberry salad
Serves 3-4

Feel free to adjust proportions to your preference, and to substitute other fresh fruit for the berries and nectarines if you'd like.

1 bunch arugula (about 4.5 oz.), stems removed, leaves torn into medium pieces
2 medium nectarines (use nectarines that are just shy of ripe and are still slightly crisp), cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup blueberries
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts

For serving: good quality extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Toss all ingredients together in a salad bowl. Separate into individual portions and drizzle each bowl with olive oil and balsamic vinegar just before serving.

Whole grain blueberry buckle

My lab group recently went on a crazyawesome retreat to New Hampshire, and one of the things we did there was blueberry picking at Berry Knoll farm. The blueberries at the farm were some of the best I have ever tasted, and I came home with about a quart of them. I saved half to eat with yogurt and granola for my breakfasts this week, and started looking for a recipe to make with the other half. I decided to make something from Good to the Grain and ended up choosing the blueberry buckle. It's a nice thick cake with two layers of blueberries, and a crumb layer on top. The cake and crumbs are made with whole wheat pastry flour and spelt flour. The cake has great flavor and texture - Kim Boyce's recipes are awesome! We ate some of it for dessert tonight but it is really more of a breakfast cake...mmmm, I can't wait to eat some tomorrow morning =)

Blueberry-nectarine crisp

I don't really make many fruit desserts - the leftovers don't usually store that well, so I tend not to make them unless I'm serving a crowd. Andrew and I are generally happy to enjoy our fruit plain and unadorned. However, with all the gorgeous fruit that is available now, I thought it would be a shame not to post at least one summer fruit dessert recipe.

There was no issue with storing leftovers here - this recipe is for single-serving crisps. They're easy to throw together, so you can make just the right amount anytime you want them. In our case, it was for a mid-morning snack, although I'm still labeling this as a dessert. We just happen to like having dessert right after breakfast...

I made this crisp with some ripe, sweet nectarines and blueberries, and topped it with a granola-like oat mixture. We ate this plain, but it would be even better with some vanilla ice cream on the side.

Note that this recipe is infinitely adaptable - you can change up the types of fruit, adjust the amount of sugar, add spices, change the amount of topping...it'll still come out good. And you can make one large crisp instead of several small ones if you want. A couple variations came to mind as I was writing this: a squeeze of lemon would be nice in the filling, or maybe even a bit of booze.