Favorite Fruit Salad

This is very easy to make but I am including the recipe here because it is a family favorite. Strawberries, oranges, and bananas, perfect harmony in a glass bowl!

The juice of the oranges sweetens the strawberries and helps the bananas keep their fresh color. You can always find the ingredients and you can make this any season of the year. You will need:

2 bananas
2 naval oranges
2 pints strawberries

Choose bananas that are ripe and ready to eat, which means completely yellow peel. If the peel is still green, the bananas won’t be sweet enough. If the peel is speckled with brown, it is too late for a fruit salad. (Make banana bread instead.) Choose firm, bright red strawberries with few green or white areas. And use fresh naval oranges, too.

Follow these steps for the best result:

Step 1: Oranges: Peel the oranges, removing as much white membrane as possible. On a shallow plate, cut the oranges into 1/2 inch slices and then cut each slice into 3 or 4 wedges. Transfer the oranges into a glass bowl, but be sure to leave some of the juice from the oranges on the plate, for the next step.

Step 2:  Bananas. Peel the bananas and put them on the plate, right in the orange juice. Cut the bananas into rounds 1/4 inch thick. Use a spoon to gently slide the banana slices around in the juice on the plate. Then add the banana slices to the glass bowl and cover them up with the oranges. This will keep the bananas from turning brown.

Step 3: Strawberries. Rinse the strawberries and pat dry with paper towels or dry in a salad spinner. Cut the leaves off the strawberries and remove any tips or tops that are green or white. Then cut the strawberries into quarters and add them to the glass bowl. Before you mix them in, taste a strawberry. If the berries are tart, add one or two tablespoons of sugar (or Splenda) right on top of the strawberries. Wait just a minute or two while the sweetener makes the strawberries release their juice. Then mix the berries in with the oranges and bananas.

And that’s it. if possible, serve within 15 to 30 minutes. If you have to wait longer, put plastic wrap directly over the fruit to keep out the oxygen that turns the bananas brown.

This is great for a brunch or as side-dish for a summer barbecue or for dinner on a dreary winter day. It makes a nice dessert all by itself, but if you want to be fancy, serve it in little bowls alongside a slice of pound cake.

This fruit salad seems to disappear, but if you have leftovers, put a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the fruit. Then cover the bowl with a second piece of plastic wrap as you usually would, and refrigerate.

By Randa Dubnick

Image is Favorite Fruit Salad (Digital Woodcut) by Randa Dubnick

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