This recipe comes from Healthy Meals in Minutes. It’s on one of those little cards that you get in the mail, so I figure that’s where I got it. I LOVE fruit salad. In fact, we made one this afternoon. We used yellow and red watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, green and red grapes, apples and pears in it. Absolutely wonderful!
Both of these versions of fruit salad look wonderful. I’m especially excited to try the tropical fruit version because I love fresh pineapple.
Sunny Fruit Fiesta
1 cantaloupe melon, halved and seeded
½ honeydew melon, seeded
¼ cup superfine or granulated sugar
¼ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons grated lime peel
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup black or red seedless grapes
Using a melon baller, scoop flesh from cantaloupe and honeydew into balls; set aside.
In a large glass or ceramic bowl, combine the sugar, lime juice, lemon juice, and lime peel. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Add the cantaloupe and honeydew balls, strawberries, and grapes. Toss gently to combine.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to blend flavors, stirring once or twice.
Spoon the fruit mixture into serving bowls or hollowed-out melon halves, dividing evenly. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings.
Variation:
For a tropical fruit version, substitute kiwi slices, pineapple chunks, papaya slices or mango cubes for some of the melon balls. Add a little grated fresh ginger or ground ginger. A dash of coconut extract would also make an intriguing addition. Try serving this version in a hallowed-out pineapple half.
Tip:
A perfectly ripe cantaloupe will have a sweet, fresh fragrance. It should feel heavy for its size and give slightly at both ends when gently pressed. If the cantaloupe is soft, yellowing, or feels wet at the stem end, pass it by.
To ripen a hard cantaloupe, store it in a warm place for several days, away from sunlight. Once it is ripe, refrigerate and use within a week.
For a melon basket:
Use a non-toxic marker to draw a zigzag pattern on melon. Cut deeply into fruit along pattern, separate halves, seed, and fill with fruit.
