Do you have a favorite dish that you make for cookouts in the summertime? If we’re talking about backyard barbecues, there’s a few standard recipes that are almost always necessary to have. The main course is typically some juicy burgers or hot dogs done on a charcoal grill. Still, the best parties have much more to offer than that in the form of side dishes. A nice potato or egg salad always compliments things well along with a bowl of chips and dip and maybe some ice cold beer or soda in a cooler.
Sometimes, however, you might want something a little lighter and fruitier to spruce up your spread. Although salad is something we should probably all be eating more of, we don’t want to kill the vibe by including too many boring veggies on the picnic table. Instead, we’ve got the perfect thing. At your next party, why not try making this delicious and tropical fruit salad as a palate cleanser instead? The preparation couldn’t be easier and the taste is absolutely perfect for a hot summer day. Our mouths are watering already.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 12 mandarin oranges
- 2 cups of strawberries
- 1 pineapple (cut into chunks)
- 5 sliced kiwis
- 3 mangoes (cut into chunks)
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1/2 teaspoon of ginger paste (or freshly grated ginger)
- 1/2 teaspoon of poppy seeds
Here’s what you do:
1. To get started, rinse off your lemons, limes and oranges and dry them. Start by zesting the lemon and lime and put the zest in a small bowl. Cut each of those fruits in half and squeeze their juice into that same bowl, ideally yielding about half a cup of liquid.
2. After that, add in your honey, ginger and poppy seeds. Whisk everything up to combine it and set the bowl aside—this will serve as your salad dressing later on!
3. With that part done, you can move on to preparing your fruit for the rest of the salad. After rinsing and drying as necessary, slice up your strawberries and kiwi into thin pieces. Peel the oranges and break them up into bite-sized sections. Finally, cut up your pineapple and mango as well and combine all your fruit in a large mixing bowl and throw it in the fridge.
4. Once you’re done putting everything together, carefully drizzle your dressing over everything about half an hour before you’re ready to eat it. Toss the bowl a little to coat everything evenly and then serve!
Although we’ve all probably made a basic fruit salad before, we don’t always think to make it with its own accompanying dressing. In this case, the honey mixed with the citrusy zest and poppy seeds kicks everything up to the next level. Because so much of the backyard food we eat during cookouts is served hot, having a chilled fruit salad on the side can definitely cool things down and help you balance out your meals. Feel free to tweak this recipe with other tropical fruits as you see fit and enjoy!
Have you made this recipe yourself? Let us know how it went in the comments.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
