This grilled peach salsa recipe is made with two of my favorite summer farmer’s market treats - fresh peaches and sweet onions! It’s perfect for snacking with tortilla chips, or spoon over simply grilled fish or chicken.

When I was seven, I moved to Atlanta from Brooklyn. It's funny now to think back on my memories of the move. My parents told me we had a slide in the backyard and a pool, so naturally my seven year old brain interpreted it as a waterslide. I was pretty distraught when I found out it was just a regular old slide and a regular old pool. Although I quickly got over it when I realized "OMG WE HAVE A SLIDE AND A POOL!" Although we had a house in Brooklyn, the whole neighborhood concept was very new and very exciting to me. Like, I'm allowed to play outside without an adult present? What is this craziness??

Being the food lover that I am, my strongest memories are of experiencing Southern food for the first time. In New York, we were constantly exposed to new cultures through food, so moving to Georgia was no different. We excitedly dug into a bags of boiled peanuts, explored nearby barbecue restaurants and learned to eat cornbread that didn't taste like cake.

This grilled peach salsa recipe is a bit of a tribute to those first memories of Southern food. I remember my remember my mom looking everywhere for Vidalia onions, a sweet onion only grown in Georgia. When she finally found them, she roasted them whole so we could enjoy the unadulterated taste. I don't know if I ever ate a peach before moving to Georgia, and although I now know South Carolina grows the best peaches, it was pretty exciting to try peaches for the first time in the peach state.

How to Make Grilled Peach Salsa

This grilled peach salsa recipe couldn’t be simpler. Just heat a grill to medium-high heat. Place the oiled peach halves and onion rounds onto the grill, and cook until grill marked and tender. The onion will take a bit longer than the peaches.

To turn the grilled peaches and onion into salsa, just dice them up, toss with jalapeno, basil and lime juice, season with a bit of salt and you’re good to go! Let it marinate a few minutes to flavor the peaches and onion with lime.

How to Enjoy this Grilled Peach Salsa Recipe

This salsa is great as a dip with tortilla chips, but there are many other ways to enjoy it. Here's some ideas:

Spoon the grilled peach salsa over grilled or roasted fish or chicken
Bake a round of brie then top with this grilled peach salsa
Make a simple bowl of black beans and brown rice, or my millet and black bean bowl, and top with grilled peach salsa.
Spoon it into a fish taco, like my barbecue salmon tacos
Serve black bean soup topped with a spoonful of grilled peach salsa

Grilled Peach Salsa Recipe

Adapted from Root to Leaf, appropriately written by an (amazing) Atlanta chef.

Ingredients

4 firm-ripe peaches
1 sweet onion, preferably Vidalia
1-2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
Juice of 1 lime
2-3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

Heat grill on medium-high heat. As the grill heats, cut the peaches into halves, removing the pit. Peel the onion and cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Place peaches and onion in a bowl, toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Spread peaches and onion evenly on the grill, cut side of peaches down. Cover and cook 5 minutes until peaches have grill marks then remove. Flip the onion and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove and set aside to cool.
When cool enough to handle, chop peaches and onion into a rough dice. Place in a large bowl with jalapeno, lime juice and basil. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

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