Nectarine & Blue Cheese Salad with Plum Vinaigrette

This is a super simple recipe…one that you may have even come up with on your own in the past, but it’s so yummy that I wanted to share it just to ensure it makes it into your summer repertoire.  The original recipe is from this month’s Bon Appétit and can be found here but I’ve revised it slightly based on our preferences and ingredients.  I found that the vinaigrette as specified in the original recipe wasn’t quite “plum-y” enough for me so most of my slight adjustments are focused there.  Otherwise this is a super flavorful and satisfying salad to serve alongside just about anything or enjoy on it’s own.  Perfect way to enjoy the amazing nectarines in season right now!

Adapted from Aug 2012 Bon Appétit:

Vinaigrette (can be made up to 1 week in advance, keep covered and refrigerated)
3 black plums, halved, pitted, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar (or ume plum vinegar if you have it)
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Salad
12 cups (lightly packed) mixed greens (such as arugula and frisée)
4 nectarines, halved, pitted, cut into slices (12-16 per fruit)
8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup plain unsalted almonds roughly chopped (or whole Marcona almonds)

Bring plums and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer.  Continue to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing plums with the back of a spoon until plums have completely broken down.

Pour plum mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a small bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much purée as possible; discard solids in sieve…or eat them right up like we did, tastes like pie filling! Let purée cool.