Tropical Fruit Salad
January 22, 2019 by Nicole Collins
I’d like to file a complaint against winter, please.
Anybody else totally over this cold weather?
I’m not just emotionally over it. I’m physically over it, too. I’ve got the joints of an 80 yr old with arthritis terrorizing my knees, hip, and hands. And, the cold weather is really not making them feel so hot. I crick and crack enough on my own on a day to day basis without the frigid temps trying to snap me in half.
Also, we can have the last snow of the season any day now. I hate looking at the weather report, seeing the little snowflake, and wondering what kind of situation we’re in for. It’s like pending doom is always hanging over us.
Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer today, but I’m cold. And, I’m done!
So today, I’ve decided that I’m no longer participating in winter. That’s right. I’m going in to summer mode with bright colors, and flip flops, and tropical flavors, and swimming pools, and everything that’s good in this world.
Anybody else want in on this with me? Strength in numbers, right? Maybe if enough people protest winter, it’ll go away.
Seems logical to me…
We’re going full out summer mode for today’s recipe. It’s totally likely we’ll magically poof somewhere on a beach after a mouthful of this goodness.
Today, we’re making Tropical Fruit Salad!
First off, how can you not be happy looking at this big ol’ bowl of sunshine? The colors are so bright and vibrant. I feel warmer already!
Making fruit salad is not a difficult task to accomplish. We’re going to start with a mix of pineapple, mango, grapes, kiwi, and blueberries. I thought about throwing something red in here, but I really like the beachy blue/green/yellow tones of this salad. If you want that extra pop of color, some strawberries would taste great in here.
Next, we’re going to make a really light dressing for the fruit. The fruit salad can be eaten as is, of course. But, dressing it with some kind of citrus helps to prolong the fruit from oxidizing and becoming a yucky shade of brown. So, we’re going to make out dressing with some lime juice and a touch of agave syrup.
But, I’ve got one secret ingredient for my dressing…a pinch of cinnamon!
Cinnamon might sound like a strange ingredient to add to this light and tropical fruit salad, but just the tiniest little bit brings outs the natural sweetness of the fruit in a much deeper and unique way. It’s one of those things that’s so unexpected and hard to put your finger on, but it really rounds out the taste.
The final touch to our tropical fruit salad is a little bit of toasted coconut. Toasting the coconut before adding it to the fruit salad helps to bring out a little nuttiness to balance out all of the sweetness in this salad. It’s really the PERFECT finishing touch!
This salad is totally summer in a bowl, and it’s totally what I need right now to beat the cold winter blues. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my lounge chair with my bathing suit and flip flops on chowing down on a big bowl of this fruit salad while sitting next to the pool…or at least a picture of a pool taped to the space heater that will need to be blasting me due to my lack of weather appropriate attire.
That’s all I’ve got for today, guys! I hope you guys stay warm, because I hear there’s more snow in the forecast!
For now, let’s eat!
Tropical Fruit Salad
Serves: 10 Print
Ingredients:
2 cups pineapple, diced
2 mangoes peeled, pitted, and diced
4 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 cups blueberries
2 cups grapes
½ cup toasted coconut
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp agave syrup
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine pineapple, mango, kiwi, blueberries, grapes, and coconut.
In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, agave, and cinnamon.
Pour the lime mix over the fruit in the bowl. Toss gently to combine. Serve!
Recipe notes:
*To toast coconut: Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread sweetened coconut flakes in an even layer, and bake for 2 mins Toss, and bake for one minute longer. Remove from oven. Watch it closely so it doesn't burn!
*If your lime feels a little tight, give it a roll on the counter, pressing down gently with your palm, to get the juices flowing.
*To easily peel a kiwi, slice the ends off, and run a spoon between the skin and the flesh of the fruit. The flesh will pop right out.
