Mixed Fruit & Vegetable Salad ♥ Recipe
Today's vegetable recipe: An unusual and refreshing salad, a bright mix of chopped fruits and vegetables tossed with no more than salt and pepper and a little cinnamon. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. Vegan. No added fat.
So why is it that 'vegetables' are usually served as a side dish and 'fruit' as dessert?
This salad really surprised me. Not only is it pretty -- isn't it pretty?! -- but instead of being a 'savory' salad, as expected, it's a 'sweet' salad, despite having no added sugar. The fruit alone adds so much sweetness to the crunch of the vegetables -- it made for a wonderful light dessert two nights in a row, and I can't wait to make it again.
The salad's texture was best shortly after it was mixed but the flavors melded beautifully after resting a few hours that I'm happy to say that it can be made in advance a few hours or even overnight. You could use any vegetables, I suppose, but the cantaloupe and apple, the cucumber and peppers, all mixed with the citrus, well, they were just perfect, just perfect.
MIXED FRUIT & VEGETABLE SALAD
Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 25 minutes
Makes about 4 cups
Time to table: 25 minutes
Makes about 4 cups
1 apple, skin on
1 cup cantaloupe
1/2 an English cucumber, skin on
2 bell peppers (I used 1 green and 1 yellow, red would have added color contrast)
1 orange
Zest and juice of a lime
Fresh basil, cut into ribbons
Cinnamon to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
Cut the apple, cantaloupe, cucumber and peppers into a small neat dice.
Zest the orange, then slice off the skin, cut the flesh into a small neat dice. Stir the orange zest, orange flesh and remaining ingredients into the fruit and vegetable mixture. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with a sprinkle of additional cinnamon and a piece of fresh basil.
KITCHEN NOTES
A reader's comment (see below) reminds me to remind others to always wash cantaloupes (and other fruits) very well. It's easy for bacteria to collect on the rough skin and be carried into the flesh by the knife as the melon is cut. 
MORE RECIPES that MIX FRUITS & VEGETABLES
~ Celery & Apple Salad ~
~ Green Smoothies ~
~ Tomato & Cherry Gazpacho ~
~ more recipes that mix fruits with vegetables ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
~ Celery & Apple Salad ~
~ Green Smoothies ~
~ Tomato & Cherry Gazpacho ~
~ more recipes that mix fruits with vegetables ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
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© Copyright 2009
© Copyright 2009
OOh, this sounds good! Great dessert/side dish for the summer! I wonder if some sliced strawberries would be tasty with it as well...love strawberries and basil.
ReplyDeleteYes, you´re right. This is simply elegant, delicious and brilliant¡¡
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting.
Best regards from Spain.
It is pretty, Alanna :)
ReplyDeleteUnusual but I think it would be tasty especially since some other things you've recommended passed the taste test with us.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty indeed! And so healthy too.
ReplyDeleteI often mix vegetables and fruit -- asparagus and strawberries is a favorite combination -- but the touch of cinnamon in the dressing is what intrigues me about this salad. I'll try it.
ReplyDeleteAlanna,
ReplyDeleteI noticed that you had cantaloupe in this salad.
After a disastrous two-day bowel 'incident' for my husband, we now SCRUB every cantaloupe and or fruit that comes under my jurisdiction.
A small amount of dish soap and a nailbrush, over the entire surface of the cantaloupe. Getting the bacteria off the netting is very, very important.
The doctors showed a cantaloupe on "The Doctor's" television show, and dropped blue food coloring onto the netting. As they cut down into the fruit, a generous amount of blue coloring invaded into the fruit. The blue coloring simulated the bacteria on the outside of the unwashed fruit on the netting.
My husband will not eat any cantaloupe unless I have prepped it. I have taken the precaution of washing or at least vigorously rinsing all fruit, even bananas before cutting into them.
A little precaution saves a lot of bowel misery. Pass it on, it is rare for a summer 'flu', most likely it is food poisoning.
This is just my kind of refreshing salad. I love it as a salsa or a dessert. And, yes, it is pretty. :)
ReplyDeleteIf its veggies it must be good. More delightful if place in fabulous vegetarian hampers. Love your dishes...
ReplyDeleteI really like the apple cucumber combo. This recipe seems like a perfect treat for a hot summer evening. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds amazing! So creative and healthy!
ReplyDeleteSimply delicious, healthy and comforting! love the fruit and vegie combo :) keep it up!!
ReplyDeleteHi Alanna...just beautiful...I started adding green grapes to my vegetable salads a few years ago and that led to more interesting combinations...one suggestion: I love the addition of largish chunks of sweet onion in a salad like this. The crunch and muted onion taste tang add a nice dimension. (I soak them 15-30 min in a solution of 1/2 tsp sugar:1 cup cold water to make them just a bit sweeter.)
ReplyDeletebest, Stephen
You posted this recipe on May 31, and were so enthusiastic about it that I tried it for a potluck June 1. I was really wondering about basil, cinnamon, S&P, and thought if it wasn't a success that there would be less for me. Well, it was a success, and I will be making it again! What an interesting combination I never would have come up with on my own! Thank you for sharing both it and the inspiration for it (Nupur, India).
ReplyDeleteI love your addition of basil, and the photo of your salad looks so fresh and refreshing! Glad you liked the recipe...I'll let my aunt know :)
ReplyDeleteI'm don't cook very often :) And I just need some clarification on the "lingo". What does this mean? "Zest the orange, then slice off the skin, cut the flesh into a small neat dice" I know what it means to zest the orange, but do i put the rest of the skin in and does any of the orange actually go into the salad?
ReplyDeleteIt looks delicious by the way.
Anonymous ~ I am honored that you picked my recipe to make, here's to it turning out fabulously! :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, just use the zest and the orange pieces (flesh) in the salad, discard the remainder of the skin. You can pretty much count on this in any recipe. It's so unusual to use the heavy, bitter skin of citrus in a dish that a good writer will make a special point that it IS being used.
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ReplyDeleteboth the cucumber and pepper are technically fruits "botanically speaking" which is why I think this works so well.
ReplyDeleteUnknown ~ Ah yes, good point! I’ll watch for this with other fruit-vegetable salads to see how your idea stands up. I bet it does! Thanks for commenting ...
ReplyDelete