If you don’t pay attention, you might miss apricot season – that would totally be the pits! This small, delicate stone fruit is at its peak from May through mid-June and is such a tasty little treat. A cup of sliced fresh apricots has less than 80 calories and provides a natural, unprocessed source of complex carbohydrates — the “good “ kind of carbs that give your body and brain quick energy for doing stuff – fun stuff like running, yoga, CrossFit and playing with your kids along with necessary evils like folding laundry, vacuuming . . . uh, and thinking rationally while stuck in rush-hour traffic.
When greedily hoarding selecting apricots at the grocery store or farmers’ market, keep in mind that this stone fruit doesn’t ripen with sweetness any further after picking. Look for fruit that is moderately soft but not squishy, unblemished and lightly scented with that famous fragrance. I usually gobble up my fresh apricots right away, but they will stay fresh on the kitchen counter for a couple days – after that, stick them in the fridge to give them a couple extra days of edible enjoyment.
Y’all know I love my grill and decided why not throw some apricots on there and see what would happen. Fabulous, good, yummy things happened as my apricots, brushed only with olive oil and sprinkled with a tiny bit of sea salt, softened and caramelized to perfection. I ate some right off the grates and had a few with my Greek yogurt for dessert – but the highlight of my fruit grilling was the Grilled Apricot and Feta Kale Salad with Organic Raspberry-Lime Vinaigrette I created for my friends at Litehouse Foods.
So many vibrant colors and healthy ingredients to swoon over in this salad including kale, raspberries, Marcona almonds, feta and more. Perfect for your late spring and summer entertaining or wow them at a pot luck. Add some shrimp or chicken to make this an entrée salad. Definitely a timely and soon-to-be-trending salad! Share your innovative salad recipe and tag @litehousefoods and #SaladRevolution on Instagram, they’ll send you a $1 off coupon good on their fit and fresh dressings, cheese, dips, and herbs.
I’ve been taking a break from the roads every now and then and heading to the trails — they are so gorgeous this time of year in Austin and we have 20+ miles of trails in my neighborhood!
Do you like to run or hike on trails? What is the biggest challenge for you — location, terrain, allergies, critters, etc?
What is a unique ingredient you like to put on salads? I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for new ideas, so please share in the comments.
Ooh, I just bought some kale. I love combining the sweet of fruit into a salad. So good!
The other great thing about this salad is that since it is made with kale, it’s sturdy enough to save and eat the next day without being wilty gross
This sounds so good! I love grilling peaches, but haven’t tried apricots. And I love the idea of feta cheese with it. Yum!
I love the sweet and salty together!
I love the trails and I am crazy about apricots– I am so excited to see them in the stores. This salad makes my mouth water!
Thanks Lisa!
ahhh these days my biggest trail challenge comes the next morning: ALLERGIES!!!
That is a problem for me too (aside from the falls I’ve taken) I guess in Austin you take the bad with the good
Perfect timing! I just bought a ton of apricots. I love the flavor that comes out of fruit from grilling. And can I come run trails with you????
I’m running back to get more apricots, too bad the trail doesn’t head right to the store!
I love the idea of grilled apricots! The entire salad sounds fabulous.
I also love trails! Cannot get enough of them. I am running my first 50k this fall so I will be spending more than my usual amount of time on them this summer–can’t wait!
Oh, yeah for the trail race . . . I would love to start doing more of those in the 10 – 15 mile range. I’ve only done one and it was 50 miles . . lol.
Grilled fruit = one of life’s simplest, greatest pleasures. Period!
I agree, I’ve grilled everything — grapes, watermelon, pineapple . . .
Trails over roads any day! And adding grilled fruit to a salad for the win. Yum.
I’m usually running by myself, so I sometimes get worried about going too far in the trails. But do love it if I have a friend.
Apricots! I hadn’t even thought about them for a salad. Brilliant. And yes, I LOVE trails – biggest obstacles right now is probably time needed to get out to them when I can just head out for a quick run on the road. Now that our weekends won’t be taken up with house hunting it should be easier to make a half day of it.
Ack, moving again? But, yay, how nice to be in a house soon!
I’ve never had apricots on salads, but it looks so delicious! I’ve thrown a turkey burger on a salad before…not bad… 🙂
i’ve never run trails…. i do like hiking though! 🙂
i’m in rural kenya (on the escarpment of the rift valley) so every run is a trail run. biggest challenge? maybe all the loose rock and mud–we’re in the season of long rains right now, hurrah–although i guess even more critical is that i can’t safely run here alone. i do enjoy hashing out life with a friend, but some days a girl needs some quiet, solitary miles, y’know?
ps the altitude. and the hills. and my wimpiness. pretty much the whole thing is one big challenge. 🙂
Not being able to run alone stinks — but better to stay safe!
You had me with the picture on this one. This will be the perfect salad for grilling out on summer nights with friends. I am going to have to try this at our next potluck!
thanks Sandra, it has ALL the pretty colors!
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Yum! This looks like a delicious salad. I love grilled stone fruit! I tried to get the recipe over at Lifehouse, but the link doesn’t go straight to the recipe. You may want to look into that 😉
Oh, thanks for letting me know — they just updated their site and I bet links are changed . . .let me look into this and get back to you! Thanks for the heads up!
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