I'm going to be making a fruit salad for a cook-out this weekend and was curious as to what you all would put in one. You may suggest things I haven't thought of!
The secret I was taught for an amazing fruit salad, even if some of the fruit you get isn't as flavorful as you'd like, is one very ripe pineapple. Cut up any fruit you plan to include (except bananas or other fruits that brown easily) and place in your bowl. Cube your ripe, sweet, and juicy pineapple and put it on top of the fruit, then chill overnight...your fruit salad will be FABULOUS and you can make it the day before. Toss in the brown-able fruits right before serving, and mix it all up.
Strawberries and blueberries, cantelope and watermelon, and then mix in some Yoplait fat free mixed berries yogurt. For a twist, just before serving it, top with some granola.
Or you could make it like a trifle: layers of strawberries and bananas, then a layer of plain yogurt and then a layer of granola (but this way, there is a lot more granola so a lot more calories).
The fruit salad I make is usually just fruit (no yogurt or other dressing--definitely no marshmallows--I can't afford the calories), whatever I find fresh at the farmers market. I usually include a combination of berries, stone fruit, melon, and/or grapes. Also mango and pineapple, although I can't get these at the farmers market (if only I lived in Hawaii).
Go to the store with an open mind and buy whatever fruit looks freshest. Your fruit salad will taste better if you use fruit that is in season (and it's better for the environment since out-of-season fruit usually comes from very far away, whereas, even at your national comglomerate grocery store, the in-season fruit is usually coming a much shorter distance).
Squeezing some fresh lemon juice into the salad will help keep the fruit from browning (although it's still best to wait as long as you can to add the fruit that is likely to brown).
Also, here is a recipe for something a little different: Grape and Cucumber Salad. I have made it; it comes out great and should travel well. Grape and Cucumber Salad
6 cups (about 2 medium) thinly sliced peeled cucumbers
2 cups seedless grapes, halved
1/4 cup chopped chives or green onion
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp bottled hot pepper seasoning
Combine cucumber, grapes and chives. Mix vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Add to grape mixture and mix well. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Kiwi is my daughters favorite part of fruit salad, mango is my husbands favorite. I actually add chopped pecans to mine, adds a nice crunch and some protien.
Hmm, I have some combinations I come back too.
1) Oranges, kiwi, strawberries, grapes
2) Strawberries, blueberries (any others I can find) and cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon
3) diced apples, raisins, shredded carrots
We're not much for pineapple or bananas here. Most any ripe fruit combination is good though.
Pomegranate- if you can find it. I think that it may be the wrong season, however. Those tiny red specks look so beautiful in both fruit and vegetable salads and add a nice flavor as well. I second the suggestion of fresh mint, as well.
Mango, papaya, pineapple and mandarin oranges. The colors are gorgeous together so it looks as appetizing as it tastes. I love the idea of sprinkling it with pomegranate seeds, too. Great idea!
I'm a very picky eater. I can't stand canteloupe or honeydew, which most people use as the main fillers in a fruit salad. I think they're both terribly bland. I prefer to use a ton of watermelon as my main "filler" fruit. I also like a lot of pineapple (I am not about to spend forever trying to cut up a fresh one, though, so I buy the bags of frozen pineapple chunks--much closer to fresh than the canned stuff). Then I also add strawberries, sometimes kiwi, green and red grapes (I even go so far as to cut the grapes in half--get more of the juice/flavor than if you leave them whole, plus they're easier to pick up on a fork or spoon without rolling away ), blueberries, etc. I don't like to add anything but the fruits--plenty of flavor without adding additional calories, IMO. I also don't like to use apples and bananas only because they brown so quickly. However, I have heard that sprinkling lemon juice on fruits that brown help them to stay, umm, un-brown longer, so maybe sprinkling lemon juice over the fruit salad would help?
I once made a fruit salad that used peach pie filling as a binding ingredient. I bought a low-sugar organic peach pie filling and it turned out really well. It also had mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, and bananas, and maybe a can of mixed fruit or something else.
What would you put in a fruit salad?
), blueberries, etc. I don't like to add anything but the fruits--plenty of flavor without adding additional calories, IMO. I also don't like to use apples and bananas only because they brown so quickly. However, I have heard that sprinkling lemon juice on fruits that brown help them to stay, umm, un-brown longer, so maybe sprinkling lemon juice over the fruit salad would help?
