Peach, Basil & Red Onion Salad

For my first post (I'm Caitlin, by the way - I'm from Pensacola, FLA, and will be posting lots more delicious, southern- and coastal-inspired recipes, so keep a look out!), I adapted a recipe from Martha Stewart Living for a summery peach salad. I had recently bought a beautiful basket-full of fresh peaches at Bailey's Farmer's Market downtown. I LOVE peaches: grilled, in pies, and raw. Today, since I didn't have much time to deal with cooking, I decided to try a new recipe with raw peaches, but expect a posting on grilled peaches in near future :)

This salad is absolutely delicious, and it barely survived 15 minutes in the kitchen before my family and I devoured it. I peeled the peaches because I don't like texture of the fuzzy peel, but you can choose to leave the skin on if you prefer. The sweetness of the peaches is cut by the sharper taste of the red onion. The basil freshens the flavors, and the lemon juice adds a bright acidity. I paired this salad with jerk pork tenderloin, and it served as a refreshing counterpoint to the spice of the jerk seasoning. I will definitely be making this again!

Ingredients:

3 peaches, sliced in 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 of a red onion, sliced very thin

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Roughly 12 torn basil leaves (use your judgement)

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients,
but make sure you add the lemon shortly after cutting the peaches
(to prevent browning).

Serves 4