Summer Fest: 4 Savory Uses for Peaches

Try these dinner and snack-ready recipes for a new way to use your peaches.
By: Cameron Curtis

Our season-long garden party Summer Fest 2012 welcomes food and garden bloggers to feature garden-to-table recipes and tips. We’ll feature favorite garden-to-table recipes and tips to help you enjoy the bounty, whether you’re harvesting your own goodies or buying them fresh from the market. Fresh this week: peaches.

Peaches, one of the most delicious, juicy summer stone fruits, are at the peak of their picking season right now. Their drip-down-your-chin goodness makes them a wonderful solo treat but their sweetness is also a great addition to savory dishes as well. While we love a classic peach cobbler, try these dinner and snack-ready recipes for a new way to use your fruit.

1. Peach and Blue Cheese Salad (pictured above)

Michael Symon's unexpected salad uses the sweetness of ripe, grilled peaches as a welcome contrast against your favorite blue cheese (he recommends smoked blue from Wisconsin). Serve it solo or on top of a steak.

Taleggio and Peach Panini

Giada's versatile pressed sandwich can carry from summer to fall depending on your selection of sliced fruit. Top ciabatta bread with sliced peaches, Taleggio cheese or brie and arugula or spinach for a summer-ready sandwich. Or, for a fall weeknight dinner, swap in pears or apples.

Lamb Popsicles

Savory lamb on skewers are dipped in a cherry and peach chutney to create a delicious Indian-inspired appetizer. Puree cherries, peaches, green onions, green chilies and spices in a food processor until smooth but still slightly chunky. It's sure to become your go-to summer dipping sauce.

Kelsey's stone fruit salsa is possibly the best use of all of summer's bounty as it combines apricots, cherries, peaches and plums with honey, basil and a touch of cinnamon for a cold dip that pairs perfectly with cinnamon chips.

More Peach Recipes From Family & Friends

Jeanette's Healthy Living: Peach Blackberry Arugula Salad

Heather Christo Cooks: Peach Coconut Pancakes
Ingredients, Inc: Easy Peach Pie
Big Girls Small Kitchen: Easy Peach Limeade
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Fresh Peach and Coconut Cake
Thursday Night Dinner: Peach Shortbread
I Am Baker: Cilantro Peach Salsa
Zaika Zabardast: Donut Peach Quesadilla
Daydreamer Desserts: White Peach Margaritas

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