Roast Duck, Peach and Orange Salad

I first tried this delicious salad at a friend's wedding reception at Quat Quatta about six years ago and was entranced by the mix of flavours involved.  My husband and I discussed what the possible ingredients were, in the hopes of replicating the salad at home, but we were sure we didn't have everything worked out.  Remembering that Australian Gourmet Traveller had an "ask the chef" section named "Fare Exchange", I wrote to the magazine asking if they could ask the reception centre's chefs to share the recipe.  The reception centre and magazine staff gladly obliged, and I have enjoyed this summery salad a few times since my friend's wedding!  So are you intrigued yet?  Well, here is the recipe for your enjoyment, with a few adjustments of my own, he he.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

3 yellow peaches, halved and de-stoned

1 1/2 Tb extra virgin olive oil

1 barbequed duck, meat removed and thinly sliced

1/2 cup loosely packed Vietnamese mint leaves

1/2 cup loosely packed Vietnamese/Thai basil leaves

1/2 cup loosely packed coriander leaves

100g bean sprouts

50g Asian cress or baby salad mix

3 oranges, peeled, pith removed and thickly sliced

Mint and orange dressing

1/4 cup whole egg mayonaise

1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce

 2 Tb fresh orange juice

1 1/2 Tb finely grated ginger

1 Tb finely chopped coriander

1 Tb finely chopped Vietnamese mint

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 tsp finely grated lime rind

Method

1. Brush peaches with the olive oil and cook, cut side down, on a char grill over high heat for 3-5 minutes until charred.  Cool and cut into thick wedges.
2. For dressing, whisk together ingredients and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
3. Combine peaches, duck, mint, basil, coriander, bean sprouts and cress in a bowl.  Divide orange slices between plates.  Top with salad and spoon over dressing.

Adjustments
1. I honestly thought that the salad had regular mint in it as well when I first ate it, so I usually add a handful of regular mint leaves as well as the Vietnamese mint (also called laksa leaf).
2. If you want to make this salad when peaches aren't in season, just use canned peaches instead.  It won't taste quite the same, but it's still all right.  After all, I first ate this salad in the winter time when peaches most definitely are not in season!
3. I am not a big fan of raw bean sprouts, so I like to lightly steam the bean sprouts in the microwave before adding them to the salad.
4. I had to leave the ginger out of the dressing because my kids don't really like strong ginger flavours.  It was a bit sad, but I got over it and it didn't ruin the salad.
5. If you don't like your food "charred", you can simply grill your peach halves until lightly browned.  It does change the taste of the salad a little, but it really is not a big deal.