This salad features the deliciously sweet seasonal produce of mid-summer: juicy ripe peaches and plump fresh corn. Served on a bed of tender greens and paired with quinoa, seeds, and halloumi for protein, this is a satisfying meal for warm summer nights!

This Midsummer Market Salad is a flavorful and refreshing combination of ingredients: sweet stone fruit and corn, crisp cucumber, salty halloumi, crunchy pumpkin seeds, and tangy white balsamic vinaigrette. With all the combinations of textures and flavors, plus lots of fiber and protein, it’s a light yet satisfying meal when the weather is hot at this height of summer.

I am late to the halloumi party, but I’m glad to have finally arrived! If you’re not familiar with halloumi, it’s a firm cheese - similar to paneer - that can withstand high temperature cooking, making it a great option for summer grilling. It doesn’t melt, and it’s got a hearty bite, similar to cheese curds that squeak in your mouth when you chew. (Which I love, but I know weirds some people out!) Once grilled and sliced, it almost resembles cooked chicken in appearance and texture. It’s also pleasantly salty, making it a great complement to the sweetness of the corn and stone fruit in the salad.

You can use peaches or nectarines as the stone fruit in this salad. I prefer nectarines over peaches, personally. This is the time of year in which I eat my weight in nectarines each week, trying to get my fill to hold me over until the next season. We’re lucky in the Pacific Northwest to have great stone fruits all summer long!

The first week of August is National Farmers Market Week, so it’s the perfect time to get to your local farmers market and pick up some of the beautiful midsummer bounty to make this salad soon!

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