Fruit Salad with a Twist
Fruit and More
You are probably thinking, what's the big deal about making fruit salad? All I need to do is grab some fruit, throw it together in a bowl, mix it up and you have fruit salad.
Not so fast. While that may technically be fruit salad, it is not exactly what I have in mind. Yes, I purchased fruit and yes I cut it up and put it into a bowl, but it is the added twist that tantalizes your taste buds.
Since all my recipes are based on ease and quickness, I am always thinking of ways to add taste without making the recipe complicated or time consuming to make.
Here is a quick, easy, delicious and fun vegetarian/vegan recipe for your next fruit salad dessert.
It just takes some additional items to go from a good fruit salad to a great one.
Photos: Taken by designsbyharriet unless otherwise noted.
This recipe consists of four fruits and three additional ingredients to give it a twist and two juices to give it added flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of fresh strawberries
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- 2 cups of red grapes
- 1 large banana
- 1 cup of raisins
- 1 cup of walnut halves
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- juice from 1/2 medium lemon
Instructions
- Cut each strawberry into four pieces. Slice banana into medium slices. Combine the strawberries, banana, grapes and blueberries in a large bowl. Add raisins, walnut halves and chocolate chips. Mix together. Add orange and lemon juice and mix again.
Sweetness and Crunch
Nuts, Raisins and Chocolate Chips
I added the walnuts to give the fruit salad a crunchy texture. I prefer walnuts in fruit salad over any other nuts, but, of course, you may use your favorite nuts.
Raisins add a chewy texture and additional sweetness.
There is nothing like adding chocolate to a fruit salad. It creates a true dessert flavor. I use the darkest chocolate chips I can find. If they are not available, I chop up a dark chocolate bar, at least 70% or higher, and throw in the pieces.
In addition to the rich taste of dark chocolate, it is very healthy for you, since it is full of the flavonoids and antioxidants your body just loves.
No more heart disease, no more high blood pressure, no more diabetes, no more cavities. Well, maybe not that healthy, but chocolate does help in all these areas.
Citrus Fruit Juice
Add Zip to Your Fruit Salad
Citrus fruit juices add a zippy flavor that turns fruit salad into dessert.
In my search for something to keep the bananas fresh, which is almost impossible, I hit upon citrus fruit and juices. At first I just added the juice to the bananas and not the rest of the fruit. The bananas tasted so good that I thought why not add citrus fruit juice to all the fruit.
I started with orange juice alone, then I added a few squirts of fresh lemon juice. Together they make a great tasting addition to my fruit salad. So, my recommendation is to use both juices.
Fresh Never Frozen Fruit
Vegan Chocolate Chips
Trader Joe's Brand
Sunspire
Tropical Source
Enjoy Life
Whole Foods Brand
NuGo Dairy Free
Oppenheimer Vegan