Fruit

A Fruit Salad—With Dressing and Everything

February 17, 2016

There are fruit salads: strawberry, blueberry, kiwi, honeydew, cantaloupe, brown banana (or maybe: cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple).

And then there are salads with fruit:

But what we seem to be missing is an entirely-fruit salad that’s treated like a salad, with a dressing and garnishes. It might seem counterintuitive to try for this in the winter, but—breaking news—we have fruit: pomegranates and pears, apples and citrus of all stripes.

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And the sturdy fruits of right now can hold up after they're cut, especially when citrus graces the bounty, and they can withstand a big ol’ dressing. A creamy one, even—and one that doesn't steer the salad closer to ambrosia or a Waldorf salad or, oh boy, Jello salad.

The dressing here has tahini and coconut milk, a streamlined version of Sarah Britton’s Enlightened Tahini Sauce. It's probably been stripped of its enlightenment, but it makes something that nears a fruit salad with substance—that’s not just fruit or fruit hiding behind a lettuce leaf.

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Top Comment:
“Ali Slagle, redeemer of Jello salad, redeemer of fruit salad. Is tuna "salad" next? I love how this works best with winter fruits! A new way to doll up those apples, oranges, and pomegranates. Persimmon, too!”
— Sarah J.
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Welcome to the world, fruit salad!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Sarah Jampel
    Sarah Jampel
  • 702551
    702551
  • Far Northwest
    Far Northwest
Editor/writer/stylist. Author of I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To). Last name rhymes with bagel.

5 Comments

Sarah J. February 17, 2016
Ali Slagle, redeemer of Jello salad, redeemer of fruit salad. Is tuna "salad" next? I love how this works best with winter fruits! A new way to doll up those apples, oranges, and pomegranates. Persimmon, too!
 
702551 February 17, 2016
Odd to post this in the dead of winter when basically none of these fruits are in season (although we can find decent kiwi fruit here in California).

Yes, you can buy strawberries at the market but they are utterly insipid and not worth the money. Same with berries, stone fruit and melon.

This would be a more timely post in June, not February.
 
Far N. February 17, 2016
"2 cups chopped fresh fruit of your choosing (in winter, apples, pears, pomegranates, oranges, persimmons. You know what to do in the warmer months.)"

Seems on point season-wise to me.
 
702551 February 17, 2016
All the photos and linked recipes are of salads made of summer fruit: grilled peach, watermelon/tomato, strawberry, figs.

A more appropriate selection of recipes and photos could have been made. The last recipe is adapted for winter fruit, but the others aren't.
 
Far N. February 17, 2016
It's just fruit salad, dear.