This hearty salad takes advantage of summer peaches and tomatoes. The onion rings, which are a fun touch, take the place of croutons or other bread.
This salad is a fave of mine because of the onion rings! It might seem counterintuitive to eat fried onion rings with healthy salad ingredients, but I think it is better to eat them with vegetables instead of other fried foods. They are so tasty and make this salad a real treat!
Make this Salad in the Right Order
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 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 cook, but they are really quite simple to make. This recipe uses a sweet onion, but you can use yellow or white onions instead. It depends on what you have on hand and if you prefer the milder taste of sweet onions or the robust flavor that yellow and white onions usually have.
Slice the onion thin–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.
Submerge 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.
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, the onion rings are hard to brown but can overcook the inside onions. 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. Click here to see a source for a side-clip thermometer.
Keep the Onion Rings Warm
If necessary, keep the onion rings warm by placing them in a 200-degree F oven while you continue cooking batches. I recommend leaving them uncovered to keep them crisp.
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!
| Prep Time | 25 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons peach preserves or peach jelly
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 2-3 cups high-smoke-point cooking oil (such as peanut, canola, or vegetable)
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced thin (1/4 inch)
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (can use gluten-free flour)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Cooking thermometer
Ingredients
Peach Salad Dressing
Onion Rings
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- 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.
- 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.
- Add the cooking oil to the pan. Use the thermometer to heat it to 365-370 degrees 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.
You can keep the onion rings warm while you cook them by placing them in a 200-degree F oven. Use a heat-proof platter WITHOUT the paper towel.