The Broken Scale · Good food. Plenty of personality.
Peach & Mint Salad with Crisp Shallots and Lime
Sweet peaches meet a sharp lime and fish-sauce dressing in this fresh salad. Crisp shallots and roasted peanuts add texture over soft butter lettuce and mint.
- Total
- 30 minutes
- Serves
- 4 servings
Dress the fruit before building the salad
A short rest in some of the lime dressing gives the peach slices their own seasoning. Add the crisp shallots and peanuts at the end so they keep their crunch.
At the table
Use a broad platter so the peaches and herbs sit in a loose layer over the lettuce.
The full recipe
Changing servings? The ingredient list scales automatically. Adjust quantities named in the steps to match, and choose pans and cooking times for your batch.
Peach & Mint Salad with Crisp Shallots and Lime
A Vietnamese-inspired peach salad with butter lettuce, mint, peanuts and a fish-sauce lime dressing.
Ingredients
17 tablespoons canola oil divided; 1 cup for frying and 1 tablespoon for dressing in the base recipe- 1 large shallot about 5 oz, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 garlic clove grated
- ½ red Fresno chile thinly sliced; optional
- 3 donut peaches
- 1 7-oz head butter lettuce leaves separated; about 6 cups
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves
- ¼ cup chopped roasted salted peanuts
Instructions
- Put 1 cup oil and the sliced shallot in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the shallot is golden. Lift it out with a slotted spoon and drain on a towel-lined plate.
- While the shallot cooks, whisk the lime juice, brown sugar, fish sauce, garlic, remaining tablespoon oil and optional chile until the sugar dissolves.
- Cut the peaches into thin rounds, working around the pits and removing them. Put the slices on a plate, spoon over 3 tablespoons dressing and leave for 5 minutes.
- Arrange lettuce, peaches and mint on a platter. Scatter over the crisp shallots and peanuts, then drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve immediately.
Notes
The cup of oil is used for frying the shallot; the dressing uses only the separate tablespoon.
Fry the shallots until golden rather than dark brown; they continue to darken slightly after removal.