Heavenly Maple and Peach Green Salad

I cooked for a women's retreat this past weekend and had such a good time trying out some new and old recipes on them. I had planned for a green salad and threw in some focaccia bread with the idea of making croutons, but beyond that I had no idea what I was going to do for this salad. Except that at the last minute I threw in a bag of Rosemary Marcona almonds* that I knew were destined to be part of the party. Here's what I came up with and honestly this is one of my new favorite salads, but also the dressing!!! I could just drink it out of the bowl...Also, you can just buy garlic croutons if you wish, but I do love freshly made ones. And you can make a big batch and keep them on hand for second and third use...or just eat them straight off the pan. This salad is simple and super easy to throw together, but such a good winter/spring transition salad.

*If you don't have Trader Joes or can't find the Rosemary Marcona almonds, you can use regular marcona almonds instead.

Side note: I'm including Parmesan cheese in my recipe because it's pretty universal, but if you like goat cheese, this salad would be over the top divine with goat cheese crumbled into it.

Ingredients:

6 cups Field Greens salad mix 3 juicy peaches or nectarines, sliced into thin wedges 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved 1 Cup of Rosemary Marcona almonds (from Trader Joes) 1/2 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Crouton Ingredients:

1/2 loaf of Focaccia bread (mine was simply salted focaccia) 1/2 Cup melted butter 2 cloves garlic 1 tsp. fresh or dried dill Salt and pepper to taste

Maple Champagne Dressing Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise 1/2 Cup heavy cream 1/4 cup Maple Syrup (real deal maple syrup is best here) 1/4 cup Champagne Vinegar dash of cayenne pepper (go easy, you just want a little warmth) Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

For the Croutons:

Start out by making your croutons. They'll need time to bake and cool prior to you eating the salad.

1. Preheat the oven to 400*

2. Cut the focaccia bread into medium sized cubes. I like mine on the large size (1"x1") but that's just personal preference. Scatter your bread cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

3. Melt the butter in the microwave and stir in the crushed garlic and dill. Drizzle the mixture as evenly as possible over the bread cubes. Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper and toss well to coat.

4. Place in the oven and set your timer for 10 minutes. At that point you will need to check for doneness. They should be golden brown and crunchy, but not totally dry. They will dry out more after you take them out of the oven, so don't go too far.

5. Remove from the oven and let cool

For the dressing:

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Taste for flavor preference and add more salt or pepper as desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Salad:

Combine all of the salad ingredients and toss together. You can either serve the dressing and croutons on the side, or combine the whole thing and toss with dressing yourself.

EnJoy!