I don’t know about you gals, but after a holiday, I feel compelled to recreate some of the dishes I had while away. It’s my way of staying on vacation or at least of trying to relive some of the moments by fooling my tastebuds. In any case, expect to see some European summer inspo in my upcoming recipes. This one was a gourmet food truck salad I gobbled up while strolling in London’s South Bank. In reality, it was a bit messier, served in a cardboard box and eaten on a makeshift picnic table in a bustling city market atmosphere – it was also 30 degrees colder outside. But I think the taste is pretty close to the original and it’s wonderful as an appetizer, or light meal. As it sits here before me, I am also envisioning rolling it up in a wrap for lunch tomorrow.

Tips:

• When grilling the nectarines, make sure your grill is on very high heat. You don’t want to cook them, you just want to have those pretty barbecue lines and impart a slightly smokey taste, so 30-45 seconds each side is fine.
• I like to serve this salad up directly on each person’s plate, so I generally mix half the dressing in the spinach first, serve on the plate and then top it with the goat cheese, nectarines, a mound of zucchini and the pine nuts. I then add a bit more dressing.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 nectarines, quartered
• 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1 1/2 large zucchinis, ribboned
• 6 cups baby rocket or spinach
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp chives, chopped
• Salt, pepper
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

Instructions

1. Heat barbecue grill on high for 10 minutes until it is very hot
2. Brush 1 tbsp of olive oil on nectarines
3. Brush I tbsp of olive oil on the zucchini ribbons, add some salt and set aside
4. Place the nectarines on the grill until they get the grill marks – around 30 seconds to a minute – then flip them over and do the same on the other side. Once they are all done, set them aside on a plate.
5. Toss your zucchini ribbons quickly on the grill – 30 to 45 seconds – just enough to get them slightly cooked. Set aside.
6. Toss the spinach, zucchini, goat cheese and nectarines together in a large bowl. Top with toasted pine nuts.
7. Prepare the dressing my whisking together the lemon juice, olive oil and chives with a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add the dressing at the last minute, when you are ready to serve.