Two Fruit Salads For Pitch-Ins or Personal


Sometimes fruit can be a great quick snack to grab- like an apple or banana that you can just eat in the car, but mixed fruits can make great snacks or even desserts for your healthy dinners.  You can make up these fruit salads and keep them in the fridge for a few days, and quickly spoon a bowlful for yourself!  These also make great pitch-in dishes.  The first, is a minted melon salad- which, I first made back in 2003.  I probably just tried it because it had mint in it, and I had an abundance of mint growing alongside my house. (The mint originally came from my grandma’s house, so I kinda feel like it’s an “heirloom” plant!)  I have never bought mint in the store-  even though I don’t have any growing by my house now, my mom still does, and I just grab a bunch from her house when I need it!  The second is a super-fast fruit salad- the most time consuming part is the cutting of the bananas and strawberries.

Minted Melon Salad
5 C Watermelon
3 C Canteloupe
3 C Honeydew
2 C Peaches
1 C Blueberries

Syrup:
1 C Water
¾ C Sugar (I just use real sugar here)
3 Tbs Lime Juice
1 ½ tsp Chopped Fresh Mint
¾ tsp Anise Seed.

Chop up the fruit…Ok this is time consuming!  But, I often just buy the pre-cut melons at the store.  Most of the time, I do not use the peaches or blueberries.  You can just use the melons, and it’s still quite good.  I also add more than 1 ½ tsp of mint…probably more like a small handful.

To make the syrup, bring the water, lime juice, sugar, mint and anise to a boil for 2 minutes.  Cover and chill completely.  Then, combine fruit and syrup in a large bowl.  Chill the mixture for 2 hours.

You can make the syrup up ahead of time and freeze it in little baggies for use later.  This can be a great timesaver- and if you buy the pre-cut melons then it wont take any time at all when you are in the mood for it.

What is anise?  Yep, I didn’t know what it was either when I first made this.  It is the basis for licorice.  I’m not always a big licorice fan, but I love anise with this dish!  You really can’t leave it out!


“The Perfect Dessert” Fruit Salad
1 Can Pineapple Chunks, in its own juice
1 Can Mandarin Oranges, in light syrup
1 Pt. Sliced Strawberries
2-3 Sliced Bananas
1 lime (or 2-3 Tbs Lime Juice)
2 Tbs Honey

Save the juice of the pineapples and oranges.  Mix in the lime juice and honey.  Add to the fruit.  If you have a whole lime, then top with lime zest.  You can make this up ahead of time, but, if you do plan on doing that, I recommend not putting the bananas in until just before you are ready to serve.  Otherwise, the bananas will turn red and mushy!

This is sooooo simple and so very yummy.  Try it for your next pitch-in.

 Another variation with this is to use the pineapples, mandarin oranges, strawberries and sliced green apples, no bananas. The juice with the honey keeps the apples from turning brown.  This is also good without the lime and zest, if you don't happen to have any.

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