Fruit Salads

Last October (wow, almost a year ago! Time flies!), we had posted a blog of salads with fruit. This time we're dedicating a post to salads that are completely made of fruit.

The first salad is one that I found about three years ago. I was asked to bring a fruit salad to a get together with my husband's family. I wanted to do something a little different. I found a lovely recipe that had very few ingredients. It also called for marmalade jam which closed the deal for me. I had some marmalade in my fridge that I wanted to use up. I like (but don't love) marmalade jam on toast and it probably would have taken me over a year to eat that jam on toast. The jam is perfect in this salad. It sweetens things perfectly and complements the flavors perfectly.

The second salad is a salad that my friend, Krissy, came up with herself. If I remember correctly, she received news that they would be having unexpected guests for dinner, so she put together a salad with the ingredients she had on hand. To coat the fruit, she used a mixture of whipped cream and key lime juice. Don't use regular lime juice on this one. Key lime juice is a must--it adds just the right flavor. The other great thing about using lime juice is the citric acid keeps the pears and apples from turning brown.

I already shared one of my favorite fruit salads earlier this year: Mixed Berry Salad with Mint.

So, with summer quickly waning, make a fruit salad--before it becomes too expensive to do so!


Strawberry-Orange Marmalade Salad

Ingredients:

4 navel oranges
2 pints strawberries
1/3 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut off and discard ends from oranges. Following the curve of the fruit, cut off peel and outer membrane. Slice oranges crosswise into 1/8 inch thick rounds (see note below).

Hull and slice strawberries; add to oranges.

In a small bowl, stir together marmalade and lemon juice. Add to fruit and mix gently to coat.

8 servings.

Nutrition information: 89 calories, 0.4 g fat, 3.8 g fiber.

Source: I found this recipe on MyRecipes.com

Notes: Rather than going for a round shape for the fruit, I opted to keep the shape of the orange segments. You must follow the peeling method noted in the recipe. This recipe works so much better when it has less pith attached to the oranges.

So, cut off both ends of the oranges (so that it could stand without rolling on its top or bottom). Then, using your knife, cut the peel off of the oranges to remove the pith and expose the fruit. Once the orange is peeled, use your knife to cut the orange into segments. Once the orange is cut into segments, there will still be some pith and a little fruit remaining. Squeeze the remaining pith/fruit so that the juice will be added to the salad.

Then, hull the strawberries and cut them into quarters. Stir oranges, strawberries, marmalade, and lemon juice all together.

And as usual, I had quite a crowd to feed, so I actually tripled this recipe.


Krissy's Lime Spiked Fruit Salad with Real Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

3 ripe pears, chopped
3 small apples (such as Empire), chopped
2 mangoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/4 cup Key lime juice
2 1/2 tbsp. sugar, divided
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Put small metal bowl and beaters in freezer.

Combine fruit in a large bowl.

In a separate small bowl, combine lime juice and 2 tbsp. sugar. Mix together until sugar dissolves. Toss the fruit and lime juice together.

Take metal bowl from freezer. Add whipping cream, 1/2 tbsp. sugar, and vanilla. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Add to salad, and mix.

Source: Again, this came from my lovely friend, Krissy. And it was awesome!

Notes: I didn't have whipping cream on hand...but I did have canned/spray-able whipped cream, so I used that. As a result, I omitted the sugar (since it was sweetened whipped cream). I would suggest gently folding the whipped cream into the fruit so that it doesn't deflate the whipped cream (as mine did! I mixed a little too vigorously! But it was still delicious!). I think my whipped cream didn't really stay whipped because I used canned whipped cream which tends to revert to its liquid state a lot more quickly than homemade whipped cream. But oh well! I didn't have whipped cream on hand, so what can you do? It still tasted great!

If you wanted to have a fluffy fruit salad, but save some calories, you could substitute lite Cool Whip for the whipped cream.

Also, Krissy mentioned that any of your favorite fruits would work well with this salad. Blueberries, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, etc. You name it! Get creative and enjoy!