[Jump to Shiso Vinaigrette Recipe]
[Jump to Late Summer Salad Recipe]
I love any recipe that allows me to use small amounts of different ingredients that I wouldn’t be able to make a full dish on their own. Bonus points if I can wipe the dish up quickly. Salads fall in this category. They are a great way to combine all sorts of produce in one delicious dish.

For this late summer salad I combined small amounts of late summer produce from here in Colorado: corn, peaches, and beets with mizuna – a Japanese mustard like green. I then covered it with a light shiso vinaigrette. I love the way the light vinaigrette combines with the sweetness of the toppings and the bitter of the greens.

Shiso Vinaigrette

Makes a little under 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) a little bit more than needed for this recipe

5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon shiso simple syrup*
white pepper and salt to taste
half a shiso leaf cut in strips**

1. Combine ingredients in a small bowl or 4 ounce mason jar. I prefer the mason jar because I can shake it as much as I like easily and then store it after if I prefer.
2. Whisk or shake until fully combined.

Note:
* If you do not have shiso simple syrup, any simple syrup will do. It is best if the simple syrup matches the added herb, but it doesn’t have to. If you do not have simple syrup you can use ¾ teaspoon of sugar or honey. If you do this make sure to whisk or shake really hard to dissolve in the vinaigrette.

** If you want to make simple syrup for this but don’t have shiso, mint or lemon balm are great substitutes. They aren’t the same flavor but they work very well with this salad combination. I have directions on how I make shiso simple syrup here.

Late Summer Salad

Makes 2 full meal salads, 4 side salads

1 cold roasted beet, sliced*
1 peach, sliced
kernels removed from 1 corn ear
3 cups mizuna, chopped to bite sized pieces**
2 tablespoon toasted pepitas
2 ounces of mozzarella cheese
6 tablespoons shiso vinaigrette

1. Heat up cast iron skillet or pan over high heat. Cut corn kernels off of ear. Pour corn in skillet and let sit for 3 minutes then stir. Remove from pan when corn is nice brown and roasted and let cool.
2. While corn is roasting, clean and cut mizuna. Place mizuna in a mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and toss. Place mizuna split amongst plates.
3. Slice peach and beets. Place in same tossing bowl as the mizuna. Add 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette and toss. Distribute peaches and beets evenly across all plates.
4. Evenly distribute corn kernels, pepitas, and cheese across all plates.
5. Add any additional vinaigrette to top of salad as desired. I like a more lightly dressed salad but my husband added a couple teaspoons to his.

Notes:
* I roast my beets all at once when I get them in the CSA then store them in a jar in the fridge to use later. To roast the beets I follow The Kitchn:

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F
2. Remove leaves and scraggly tip of beets, wrap beets in tin foil, place on baking sheet and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. You can place the beets in the oven before it reaches temperature and it is just fine.
3. At 45 minutes I unwrap and check beets by sticking in a fork. Bake more if needed. When the fork goes in smoothly the beets are done.
4. I then let the beets sit on the counter in the tin foil until they cool. I leave them in the tin foil because I find it makes the skin easier to remove.
5. Remove skins and use or store.

** If you don’t have mizuna available you can use arugula, though it is more peppery than mizuna. Really any green can work.

I have made other variations of this before. If you follow me on instagram you probably saw me post this previously this summer. This version had no corn and the more traditionally dark beets.

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