Cherry Nectarine Arugula Salad with Spiced Pecans

Do you know that moment when you think of a brilliant dish? It's like something clicks and suddenly you know exactly what you want to create. Sometimes this happens when I'm exercising or watching tv or just sitting outside, staring at my plants. The latest idea that popped into my head was to create a cherry salad. Yea, I know, that doesn't sound so exciting. But given that I've been eating a ton of salads lately, to think of a brand new salad recipe was enough to get me excited for the next day's lunch. This cherry nectarine arugula salad with spiced pecans, toasted quinoa, and honey mustard, and lime vinaigrette is the perfect summer salad. Throw on some roasted chicken or seared steak and you have yourself a fantastic healthy lunch!

Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Cherry Nectarine Arugula Salad with Spiced Pecans

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: vegetarian

Servings: 4

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Honey Mustard and Lime Dressing

• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• salt and pepper

Remaining ingredients

• ½ cup quinoa
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ cup pecans
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 3 cups fresh cherries pitted, halved
• ½ cup dried cherries
• 2 nectarines pitted, sliced
• 2 shallots thinly sliced
• 8 cups arugula

Instructions

• Make the honey mustard and lime dressing. Whisk together 2 tablespoon honey with 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon minced garlic. Slowly add ⅓ cup olive oil, whisking continuously. Season the dressing with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Soak ½ cup quinoa in water for 20 minutes. Drain and thoroughly wash the quinoa. Heat a saute non-stick saute pan over medium heat and add the quinoa onto the dry pan. Cook the quinoa until it starts to pop and smells nutty, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Make the spiced pecans. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a non-stick saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon chili powder. Stir until the sugar melts, then add ½ cup pecans, stirring to coat. Reduce heat to low and continue to toast the pecans, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Prepare the remaining salad ingredients. Plate 2 cups arugula per plate and top with cherries, nectarines, shallots, and dried cherries. Sprinkle the spiced pecans and toasted quinoa on top. Serve with honey mustard and lime dressing.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Whenever I make a vegetarian salad, I try to incorporate some sort of protein into the dish. Boiled eggs, roasted chickpeas, lentils, or quinoa are usually my top choice. To make today's cherry nectarine arugula salad a little different, I decided to toast my quinoa.

Quinoa has a very soft texture when boiled. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you're even eating quinoa because it just blends in with the other salad ingredients. I wanted to get more a crunch so we're going to prepare the grains a little differently. First, soak the quinoa for 20 minutes in room temperature water and give it a good rinse to remove any impurities. Drain the quinoa but don't worry about drying it.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-low heat and add the quinoa. Continue to cook the quinoa until it starts to pop, this means the water is starting to evaporate. Keep stirring as it starts to turn golden brown. Once the quinoa smells nutty and is a beautiful brown, it's ready.

Meanwhile, make the spiced pecans by toasting them with brown sugar, cinnamon, and chile powder. Let them cool and set aside while you prepare the fresh fruits. Pit and half the cherries and slice the nectarines. I used bing cherries but feel free to swap them out for any other variety.

Make the honey mustard and lime dressing by blending together the ingredients until smooth. This dressing is basically a honey mustard recipe but with lime instead of lemon. Assemble the salads, plating the arugula, sliced nectarines, fresh and dried cherries, shallots, spiced pecans, and toasted quinoa. Don't go too crazy on the quinoa because it can be a bit of a jaw workout.

This cherry nectarine arugula salad is actually quite simple but there are so many different flavors and textures in one bowl. The sweet cherries with the juicy nectarines, crunchy toasted quinoa, spiced pecans, bitter arugula, and dried cherries, all finished with a creamy honey mustard and lime dressing...it's so good! Now I just have to remember to make this salad whenever cherries and nectarines are in season!

For another fantastic salad, check out this luau salad inspired by the Cheesecake Factory!