Summer Fruit Bowl

I'm very picky about peaches and nectarines. I only buy them when they have great aroma which could explain why it's been years since I bought either. Anything else and they'll probably be hard and flavorless.

1 perfectly ripe Nectarine

1 Mandarin orange - with peel

fresh blackberries

Wash and cut up the fruit. Drizzle with fresh lemon juice and sprinkle with crunchy turbinado sugar. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Fruit Salad

Often a new recipe creation just hits me when looking in the 'fridge, freezer, on my pantry shelf, or like today - in the fresh fruit corner of my countertop.

Also, as a bit of an aside, in the past - the recent past, like right before Whole 30 - I'd make a fruit bowl like this and top it with turbinado sugar, "for crunch." Lots of sugar provided lots of crunch, but it also negated a lot of natural benefits of the healthy fruit. So as I assembled this I thought of that and wondered how the flavors and texture would be in this new, healthier approach. Well, for a big surprise, read this post to the end!

1 lg. Envy apple

1 med. banana

1 yellow or green kiwi

1 Cutie mandarin + peel

Dark seedless grapes

5-7 dried dates

juice of one lime

Wash everything well.

Peel the kiwi, don't peel the Cutie, and juice the lime. Cut, slice or chop, each of these fruits, into a medium size bowl. Drizzle with the lime juice, gently combine and distribute, making sure everything is coated with the lime juice.

I ate half of the fruit in the little bowl and was so surprised at the flavors the lime juice brought out! However, I had an idea. . .

I went back to the kitchen and sprinkled the rest of the fruit in my bowl with pink Himalayan salt and some of my black+cayenne pepper mix.

Wow!! You need to give this a try! . .Lin

A Red Orange & Yellow Fruit Salad

½ ripe pineapple

½ ripe canteloupe

1 Cara Cara orange

10 frozen strawberries

1T local organic honey

¼-½t ground black pepper

Remove the outer and inner parts of the pineapple and the cantaloupe.  Cut the fruit into bite-size chunks and combine in a large glass bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine orange zest and sections, sliced strawberries, honey and pepper.  Microwave this for up to 30 seconds to thaw the strawberries and get the juice flowing from the orange segments.  Warming will also make the zest more able to release its flavor and absorb the honey.

Fruit is a high-carb food, but shouldn't all be ignored.  Cantaloupe is very high in Vitamins A and C, and has a good amount of fiber.  Strawberries are a good source of Vitamin C and contain valuable anti-oxidant properties.  Cara Cara oranges have a really nice color, taste great and are a good source of Vitamin C.  Pineapple is extremely high in Vitamin C, a good source of fiber as well as Bromelain, an enzyme with anti-inflammatory properties.  It kills bacteria and fights infection.  Additionally, fresh pineapple juice is a far more effective cough suppressant than regular cough syrup.  Explore your fruit options! . . . Lin

Fruit and Jicama Salad

3T honey

3T flavored white balsamic vinegar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2t± fresh ground pepper

1/8c thinly sliced red onion

zest of a Cara Cara (or navel) orange

1/2 med. jicama - diced

1 Cara Cara orange - quartered and sliced

1 peeled kiwi - quartered and sliced

1/2c blueberries

12 oz. strawberries - quartered lengthwise

Put the first group of ingredients in a medium bowl, microwave for 30 seconds to melt the honey.  Stir, then add the jicama and stir again, being sure the cubes are well coated.  Add the rest of the prepared fruit, stir gently several times over the next 10 minutes.  The next time I make this I'm going to add a couple chopped carrots!  I think all the textures and flavors would blend beautifully. . .Lin