Fresh Fruit Salad Ideas?

Honeybit · ‎07-17-2011

I've always loved the idea of fruit salad, but the reality is often disappointing and the fruit has turned "mushy". Last year at Mother's Day, I was with new acquaintances and had a wonderful fresh fruit salad with a perfect combination of flavors. I thought during dinner how delicious it tasted, but was so involved with getting to know the family that I didn't think about what was actually in the salad until afterwards.

Sadly, by the next time I saw them and asked about the salad, the DIL who brought it didn't remember it. She said, "I probably just picked up something at Publix because I was in a hurry." I asked at my local Publix, but they said they didn't make such a salad.

The ingredients I do remember were strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple tidbits (because when I glanced at the plate of the man across from me, he had separated those into three separate little piles). The friend who invited me said it probably didn't have melons since one of the brothers is allergic. I'm not even sure there was any kind of dressing -- if so, it was so light as to be unnoticeable.

I'm hoping they'll have another get-together and the salad will reappear. In the meantime, do you have a favorite combination of fresh fruits for a spring or summer salad?

Vamp · ‎04-14-2010

I prefer fruit salads without dressing--just a mixture of fresh fruit is the best, IMO. If I have it, I sometimes squeeze some fresh lime juice onto my fruit, but it's not necessary.

My favorite mixtures include strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple, mango, kiwi, and melon. If you add bananas, do it just before serving. Really, I just get whatever looks good at the store.

sunshine45 · ‎03-09-2010

our favorite fruit salad has a nice mix of berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries), honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple, red and green seedless graped. i dont put any bananas in mine, but i occasionally add kiwi slices at the last minute because they get bad looking pretty fast. i never put any dressing on it. seedless watermelon can be added in season. it is also nice to add a few fresh mint leaves.

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DiAnne · ‎09-22-2010

Another vote for fruit salad with any dressing although a squeeze of fresh lime is nice. I like to use watermelon, fresh pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, oranges, etc. Putting it in a glass serving dish is also nice so all the beautiful colors show through. For buffets I have used a trifle dish.

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

My grocery stores and Whole Foods stores have a variety of pre-packaged containers with fruit and the one I get most often is strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple. Sometimes I get a similar one with raspberries.

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Sammijo10 · ‎05-14-2011

I've used a simple one from Pioneer Woman that has strawberries, blueberries, red and green grapes and a yummy orange/vanilla syrup 'dressing'. You don't need a lot of the syrup if the berries/grapes are sweet, but the orange/vanilla aroma is wonderful.

Ingredients

Orange-Vanilla Syrup:
1 cup sugar
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 vanilla bean

Fruit:
4 pints strawberries, hulled and halved
2 pints blueberries
2 cups green grapes, halved
2 cups red grapes, halved
Fresh mint leaves

Directions
Place the sugar, 1 cup water, orange zest, juice and vanilla bean in a small pan and stir to dissolve the sugar. Then bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes to thicken. Set aside to cool.

Prepare all the fruit in a large bowl, pour the cooled syrup over the top and toss together. Decorate with mint leaves and chill until ready to serve.

dex · ‎03-09-2010

I always squeeze fresh orange juice on my fruit salad...I use once fresh fruit and berries and I love adding fresh pineapple for sweetness.i make this a couple of times a week as my DH takes this with lunch for dessert.