Fruit Salad
Ahh summer! I just love this season! The weather is nice and warm giving us the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. Just the fact of being outside either gardening, golfing, swimming, cycling, sunbathing, walking or just relaxing with a book, helps me refill my energy tank.
Besides wearing my open toed sandals, another reason why I like it so much is for the wide variety of produce. Of course I take advantage of what Mother Nature has to offer. When it comes to fruits, I like to make jams, jellies, ice cream such as Passion Fruit or Strawberry Ice Cream, or pies like Bumbleberry and Apple Cheese. I also like to make desserts like Cherries Jubilee, Poached Pears with Caramel Sauce, Peach Cobbler, Mango Purée with Mixed Berries or this one… my Fruit Salad!
This is exactly how summer should taste! It’s so colorful, fresh, vibrant, tasty and healthy. I use quite a lot of mixed fruits in this dessert but it can always be scaled down. There’s an optional ingredient that I add every time I serve this to “adults” only; it’s Cointreau liqueur. It gives a nice little accent to this summer treat. Now if there are children around, use Simple Syrup instead.
Here are a couple of rules of thumb when making the perfect Fruit Salad. After washing your fruits, try to dry them out a little because it makes the dessert less “mushy”. Also if you’re not going to serve it right away, don’t add the bananas or the agave syrup. Wait until you are ready to serve. Cover the salad with plastic wrap making sure it touches the surface to prevent it from drying out and transfer to the refrigerator.
When prepping the fruits, I have a few tricks for some of them like Mangoes and Kiwifruits. There’s another good one on How to Keep the Berries Longer. I freshly squeeze my citrus fruits for the agave nectar syrup. There’s also a trick for this so to see it, click here… Extract the Most Juice from Citrus Fruits.
This Fruit Salad is perfect when hosting a backyard party. It doesn’t take too much time to prep and you have an amazing and healthy dessert to serve. I’m sure everyone will enjoy this summer sweet treat.
Bon Appétit!
Check out these other great summer recipes…
– BBQ Beef Shish Kebabs
– Grilled Fish Tacos
– Caribbean Jerk BBQ Pork Chops
– Rotisserie Chicken
– Creole Shrimp & Andouille Skewers
– Lamb Kofta with Yogurt Sauce
and for even more dessert recipes, click on this link… Recipe Category • Dessert
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Fruit Salad
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Ingredients
- 1/4 cup agave nectar (substitute honey) tips & tricks
- 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice tips & tricks
- 1/2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp. lemon zest, finely chopped
- 1 tsp. lime zest
- 1 tbsp. Cointreau liqueur (substitute simple syrup) *optional
- 2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced tips & tricks
- 2 cups blueberries, washed
- 2 cups mangoes, peeled, stoned and diced tips & tricks
- 2 cups mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented
- 1 1/2 cups pineapple, peeled, cored and diced
- 1 1/2 cups kiwifruits, peeled, sliced and halved tips & tricks
- 1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes, washed and halved
- 1 cup bananas, peeled and diced
Directions
- In a small bowl, combine agave nectar, orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, and zests along with Cointreau (see footnote); whisk until well blended and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all the fruits except the diced bananas. If not serving immediately, cover with plastic wrap making sure it touches the surface.
- When ready to serve, add bananas and pour on agave nectar mixture; toss gently. Add diced bananas and carefully toss again.
Notes
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