Tropical Fruit Salad
Fruit for Friday!
I think I typically give you guys like sweets or cocktails on Fridays but with all of the sunny Seattle weather lately, this just feels right. And I mean that, coupled with the fact that I’ve been staring longingly at the photos from my family Caribbean cruise last year has really got me hankering for summer.
Yes. I said hankering. We’ve been over this. I speak like a person born in the 50s sometimes (um, of course that is when my mouth is taking a break from it’s rather colorful language…).
But isn’t this so pretty?! I’m kind of obsessed. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of this tropical rainbow if colors!
Coconuts are definitely one of the most beautiful foods.
However, they are a real bitch to crack open and retrieve the meat from. I sat on my little porch slamming away at this thing with one of the world’s largest knives, praying I wouldn’t hack myself.
But that wasn’t even the most difficult part. Scarping out the flesh when you don’t own a true coconut flesh scarier thingy is not the easiest task… I went back and forth between a grapefruit spoon and a zester until I had enough for this salad. I will say though, the fresh stuff is SO MUCH better than dried! Even the water tastes better than what you can get at the store. (Do remember to strain your coconut water through a fine mesh sieve, though, because you don’t want any nasty husk chunks.)
This would be a great picnic or cook-out dish because it only gets better as it sits. Plus, there aren’t very many ingredients, and it’s super simple to scale up. I considered adding this recipe to my Too Easy category, but I felt like the stupid coconut was enough to ban it, haha. Granted, you could totally use dried coconut flakes and store-bought coconut water and it would definitely qualify!
PrintTropical Fruit Salad
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
for the dressing:
- 1/4 cup fresh coconut water*
- zest and juice from 1 small lime
- 1 tsp agave syrup (feel free to add more if your fruit isn;t quite as sweet'
- 1 to 2 tbsp fresh mint, sliced into strips
for the fruit:
- 3 starfruit (6 to 7 ounces), sliced and deseeded
- 1/2 mini watermelon (a little less than a pound), cut into chunks
- 1-2 ounces freshly shredded coconut meat*
Directions:
- Mix together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, combine the fruit. Pour the dressing over top and gently toss to coat. You can serve immediately, of let it hang out in the fridge for a couple hours for a more developed flavor.
*Feel free to use store-bought coconut water and dried, unsweetened coconut flakes if you want to make you life a little easier (It just won't be quite as awesome :P)
