Grilled Peach and Prosciutto Salad

I recently visited my best friend from high school, Stephanie, in Ft. Worth. She, her husband, and their adorable 4 month old live 5 minutes from Central Market, and I am constantly inspired by her fresh, easy cooking. This is her recipe that I tried out as soon as I came home from vacation. I used Parker County peaches, peaches grown right outside of Ft. Worth and available only 2 months a year. Needless to say, they were the best peaches I've ever had! Sorry, no pictures this time.

3 peaches, sliced
2 slices Prosciutto
Goat cheese (as much or as little as you want on your salad)
Arugula, or whatever type of salad you would like to use--I used mixed spring greens
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
2 T honey
1 T olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Put balsamic vinegar in small sauce pan on medium high heat until boiling. Then, turn down and simmer balsamic until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Once reduced, remove from heat and add 2 T honey and stir. Set aside and let cool.

In a large salad bowl, add olive oil and salt/pepper. Add salad greens and mix until coated.

Put sliced peaches on oiled grill surface. Grill until you hav grill marks but peaches are still firm. Remove from grill. Trevor likes the peaches diced after removing them from the grill, but the plate is prettier when the peaches are kept in large slices.

Arrange salad on plates and top with goat cheese, prosciutto, and peaches. Drizzle balsamic/honey mixture over the top.

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

One of Ina Garten's amazing recipes.  For those of you in colder states that don't mind keeping your oven on for 3 hours, Smitten Kitchen says you can substitute slow roasted tomatoes with sun dried tomatoes.  Yum.  I might cut back the mozzarella when I make this next time, but that's just my preference.  Everything else was golden.  So good, in fact, there are no pictures.  And I plan to make that vinaigrette again and again and again. Yields 6-8 servings, though I doubled it for 10 people and barely had much left, it's just that delicious.

1/2 pound fusilli (spirals) pasta
Kosher salt
Olive oil
1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced (bite size)
3/4 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, medium-diced (bite size)
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

Dressing
5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1 garlic clove, diced
1 teaspoon capers, drained
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup packed basil leaves, julienned

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.

Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and basil, and toss well.