When I was a little girl, my family and I would take summer vacations in this small town in Baja California called San Quentin. How they ever found this little town about 5 hours south of San Diego is beyond me, but we loved it. We would fish, eat amazing lobster burritos, go to (endless) flea markets, explore local hot springs, and play pinnacle for hours.
While I have so many positive memories of these trips with my family, one of the most powerful and sweet memories I have was parking myself below the one giant fig tree near the house, in the cool shade, and eating figs. For days. The tree literally never ran out of figs, even for a little girl to reach.
I must’ve seriously eaten hundreds of them in a weekend trip.
I knew it was great then, but I had no idea I would’t ever again enjoy such fig bliss once I grew up and my parents sold their home.
Guess you really don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
Ever since that time, as you can imagine, I have had a great fondness for figs. Not fig jam, fig pizza, fig newtons, or baked figs. Fresh, raw figs in all their sweet and textured glory.
There’s just something about biting into a fresh, sweet fig that brings me back to that innocent little girl, stuffing her face with figs.
Dustin will even buy me a carton of fresh figs when they come in season during the summer as a surprise. That man.
So, as you can imagine, I enjoy summer figs a great deal, even nowadays. While most figs don’t compare to the memories of my childhood, they’ll sure do in a pinch.
Or – say – a daily summer fig salad for days because I just can’t stop with the summer figs.
That’s why I really like adding fresh figs to this end of summer salad and then blending up a couple more in the fresh fig balsamic vinaigrette because it – yep – covers the whole salad in some sort of sweet figgy goodness.
And I’m all about that figgy goodness.
And, really, what better way to celebrate and savor the end of summer with a fresh salad, bursting with fresh figs, tomatoes, and avocado?
There’s like absolutely nothing wrong with that in my book 🙂
End Of Summer Salad With Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette
P.S. Dustin *just* told me as I finished writing this post this is the 500th post on this blog. Holy. Smokes. 500. Can you even believe it? So cool!
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp olive oil plus more for dressing, see below
- 1/4 tsp sea salt plus more for dressing, see below
- 1/8 tsp black pepper plus more for dressing, see below
- 4 cups mixed baby greens
- 1 avocado thinly sliced
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 2 tbsp feta cheese crumbled
- 4 figs plus 2 more for dressing, see below, quartered
- 2 tbsp raw walnuts chopped
- Optional: 1 apple sliced
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 ripe figs halved
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
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Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add about a tablespoon of olive oil.
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Season the boneless skinless chicken breast with sea salt and ground black pepper and place into the hot pan.
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Cook until the chicken is well-browned and cooked through, about 4-6 minutes per side. Once the chicken is cooked, remove the pan and set aside.
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To make the fig balsamic dressing, to a blender, add 2 more fresh figs, balsamic vinegar, remaining olive oil, ground black pepper, and sea salt. Blend until this mixture is fully pureed and emulsified.
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To assemble the salad, start with a healthy handful of fresh baby greens, followed by the sliced tomatoes, feta cheese, and chopped walnuts. Gently toss this together until evenly mixed.
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Over the top of the salad, add the quartered figs, sliced chicken, and then the sliced avocado.
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Drizzle the fresh fig balsamic vinaigrette over the top.
Recipe Video
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I really enjoyed this salad. Love the dressing!!
I really enjoyed this salad. Love the dressing!!
Would love to make this with some fresh figs.