This hearty peach salad with onion rings takes advantage of summer peaches and tomatoes. The onion rings, which are a fun touch, take the place of croutons.
This salad is a fave of mine because of the onion rings! It might seem counterintuitive to eat fried onion rings alongside healthy salad ingredients, but I think it is better to eat them with vegetables rather than other fried foods. They are so tasty and make this salad a real treat!
Make the Onions Rings Last
This salad is best when made in three stages to keep the onion rings hot and crunchy.
- Assemble the basic salad and place everything in rows on the lettuce.
- Make the salad dressing.
- Cook the onion rings.
Peach Salad Dressing
This salad dressing has a nice peach flavor thanks to peach preserves. It goes well with this peach salad, but it works anytime you want a vinaigrette on salad greens. For the best results, use an immersion blender (or regular blender) to emulsify the ingredients.
Onion Rings
Onion rings seem like a complicated side dish to make, but they are really quite simple. This recipe uses a sweet onion, but you can use yellow or white onions instead. It depends on what you have on hand and whether you prefer the milder taste of sweet onions or the robust flavor of yellow and white onions.
Slice the onion thinly — about 1/4-inch slices. If sliced thin, you can get more rings out of one onion. Also, thin slices keep the onion rings from becoming too chunky and overpowering the rest of the salad ingredients.
Peach Salad with Onion Rings: Submerge the Onions in Buttermilk
Submerge the onions in buttermilk until coated well. Then let the buttermilk drip off the onions for a few seconds (shake them if necessary) and coat them in the flour mixture.
Peach Salad with Onion Rings: Use a Thermometer
Use a cooking thermometer to produce the best results when cooking the onion rings. A thermometer lets you know when the oil is at the correct temperature for cooking. If underheated, it can be difficult to brown the onion rings, but they can overcook inside. A thermometer also keeps the oil from overheating and becoming dangerously hot. I have found the best thermometer is one that clips to the side of the pan and stays in place when you cook. They are relatively inexpensive and work for deep frying and candy-making.
Keep the Onion Rings Warm
If necessary, keep the onion rings warm by placing them in a 200°F oven while you continue cooking batches. I recommend leaving them uncovered to keep them crisp.
Peach Salad with Onion Rings: Serve the Dressing on the Side
To keep the onion rings from becoming soggy, serve the dressing on the side. It is also best served chilled, so it doesn’t wilt the lettuce. Enjoy!
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Peach Salad with Onion Rings
Equipment
- cooking thermometer
Ingredients
Salad
- ⅓ cup pecans, toasted (whole or chopped)
- ⅓ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded
- 1 large yellow peach, peeled and cut into cubes
- 8-10 grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced into quarters
- 8 cups green leaf lettuce, washed and dried
Peach Salad Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons peach preserves or peach jelly
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
Onion Rings
- 2-3 cups high-smoke-point cooking oil (such as peanut, canola, or vegetable)
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced thin (1/4 inch)
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (can use gluten-free flour)
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Salad
- Toast the pecans in a large skillet on low to medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat when they are starting to brown. Cool.
- Place washed and dried lettuce into a large salad bowl. Add the following to the lettuce in rows: pecans, cheese, peaches, and tomatoes. Leave room for a row of onion rings.
Salad Dressing
- Place the olive oil, rice vinegar, peach preserves, salt, and pepper into an electric blender (or use an immersion blender).
- Blend for several seconds until well mixed. Blend again just before serving.
Onion Rings
- Add the cooking oil to the pan. Use the thermometer to heat it to 365-370°F.
- Place the buttermilk into a large shallow bowl.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, cayenne, salt, and black pepper to another large shallow bowl. Mix well.
- Add the onion rings to the buttermilk to coat them. Shake them to let some of it drip off.
- Dredge the onion rings (one at a time) into the flour mixture.
- When the oil is at temperature, add a few coated onion rings (one at a time) into the hot oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Remove to a platter covered with a paper towel. Leave uncovered to prevent the onion rings from becoming soggy.
- Continue coating and frying the onions. Let the oil return to the frying temperature between batches.
- Add a row of onion rings to the salad.