A Surprise in my Salad!

I had to do a little "investigative reporting" the other day after a surprising discovery in my kitchen.
I bought nectarines at Walmart from these bins:

Yes, they all say, "Nectarines."  They are all priced at $1.98 per pound.  They are all, apparently, eligible for WIC stamps.  For all intents and purposes, these are the same.

Here's what I found when I cut into them at home:

Ah HA!  Did you know such a thing as a "white flesh nectarine" existed?  I knew of white flesh peaches, but didn't know about the nectarines.   Here's a close-up of the bins at Walmart, when I went back and investigated more closely:

Nowhere are they labeled as being different varieties on the bin labels - but - they do have two different stickers.  Also, now that I KNOW there's a difference, I can clearly see the difference in the skin colors.  When quickly throwing fruit into a bag at the store, though, the difference was far less noticeable!

We did a taste test.  The white flesh nectarine beat the traditional in all categories.  It ripened better, it was juicier, it cut easier (can you see how the orange nectarine in the photo above had to be sliced away from its pit?)  It was also a bit sweeter with a truer flavor. Incidentally, at our house we prefer nectarines - no fuzz and great taste.  The only drawback?  I miss the bright orange-yellow color on my plate, especially for the recipe I made using these very nectarines.  From this week's Weight Watchers meeting and its publication, I give you my version of their Arugula, Peach, and Goat Cheese Salad.

(I'm not going to take a photo of the recipe, because that would be copyright infringement, and you know, we librarians get a little sore about that.)

(I also don't have a photo of the salad, sadly.  It was devoured the minute I put it on the table.  Hungry boys at home.)

Chop up one peach (or nectarine, *wink*).  Peel if desired.  Put in blender (I used my immersion blender) with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, a little salt, and a little pepper.  Blend.  Mmmm.  Smells delicious!  (I had to add 1/4 tsp sugar because my vinegar-pouring got a little out of control and my dressing was too tart.) You also might want to add a little water to thin the consistency.

On four plates, put a nice big handful of arugula.  Sprinkle with finely sliced red onion and some chopped pistachios.  Slice/crumble 1/4 cup goat cheese and sprinkle on each plate.  Slice one nectarine for each plate. Grind black pepper over each salad and drizzle with some dressing.

Four servings, four PPVs per serving.  Delicious!  I did have to put an astronaut chicken on the table to satisfy my carnivorous husband, though, but he really liked the salad, too.  (Astronaut chicken - you know, the ones in the capsules?  I believe that name was from a Stephen King book; we've used it ever since to refer to rotisserie chickens in the plastic containers.)

Did you know there were different varieties of nectarines?  Which do you prefer?