Happy Surprise - Fruit Salad

.   .   . This really is a Happy Surprise! 😁

It began with a few pieces of fresh fruit, past their prime.

A can of fruit, and some dried fruit and nuts.

Fresh: 1 mandarin with peel, 1 apple peeled and chopped

. . . and 1 lemon - juice and zest
Canned: 1 can of pears - drained and chopped
Dried: papaya, pineapple and Montmorency cherries
Nuts: chopped pecans
Sweetener: a little honey or coconut sugar if needed

Mix everything in a medium glass bowl, cover and chill an hour to let the flavors blend and the juices hydrate the dried fruit.

I'm having company for lunch tomorrow. For the main dish, I'll put some of the vegetable sauce I made a few days ago over shrimp and angel hair pasta, with a simple green salad. This will be either a side dish, or maybe dessert.

I rarely make fruit salad, and can't remember ever combining fresh, canned and dried, so this was a fun creation.

Had to try a tiny bit with shredded Gruyere and a couple flatbread crackers. Mmmm! . .Lin