Monday, June 21, 2010

Creative Fruit Salad Arrangements & Ideas

Mix different fruits together for a healthy and delicious fruit salad.


Fruit is good for the human body. According to the Food Guide Pyramid set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, adults should consume at least 2 to 3 cups of fruit per day. While eating raw foods like fruit has many health benefits associated with it, minor processing of fruits can break up the monotony of fruit-eating. Cutting up different fruits and mixing them together in the form of a salad is wildly popular and adds much variety and creativity to fruit dishes.


Fruit Salads: Vegetarian


Fruit cocktails are small fruit salads that consist of assorted fruits in a syrup. Large vegetarian fruit salads, consisting mainly of cut-up fruits, can be mixed with acidic fruit juices like orange or lemon juice to prevent browning prior to serving. This type of salad is best processed early the day it is served. Preparation is quick, and the cut up fruits and juices have a good amount of time to stew before service. Some recipes feature vegetables such as lettuce and legumes or nuts -- both very healthy ingredients. Frozen fruits and spices may also be used.


Watermelon Boats


A partially hollowed-out watermelon is a good arrangement for fruit salad. It can be halved to make a boat-like container to hold multiple servings, or cut into bowls for individual servings. Watermelon bowls are best used for fruit salads consisting mainly of fruits and nuts, although the addition of spices and condiments like pepper and mayonnaise to the mix should not harm the flavor of the watermelon bowl. Fruit salad should be tasted before going into a watermelon boat. Precut watermelon should be stored in the refrigerator with plastic wrap, keeping it unexposed to the air.


Salads Containing Fruit: Non-Vegetarian


Commonly called chicken or tuna salad, these mayonnaise-slathered fruit salads generally adopt the name of whatever animal protein they feature. Sandwiches are made of and named for them as well. Raisins, grapes, nuts, mustard, mayonnaise and spices, like curry, give these meats most of their flavor. Although the fish flavor from the tuna salad is pretty overpowering, adding more lemon juice to the mixture helps balance the flavors.


Molded Fruit Salad Arrangements


Fruit Salads also come arranged in gelatin molds. Adding sliced bananas, grapes, pineapples and celery to thickening, fruit-flavored gelatin is a tasty treat that can be served as a side or a dessert.


Ambrosia salad is another popular arrangement; powdered sugar and whipped cream are used to suspend different sweet fruits (many recipes call for canned fruit). This mixture can also be served as a side or dessert, as it is incredibly sweet.


Fruit-Kabobs and Sangria


The forks and plates may be ditched for sticks when fruit kabobs are on the menu. This arrangement looks exactly how it sounds. Chopped fruits like cantaloupe, grapes, melons, strawberries and bananas can be stacked on bamboo skewers and enjoyed by hand. Whipped cream or yogurt can be added as a topping. Sangria is a fruit and wine punch that comes from Spain and Portugal. Making it involves stewing fruits like strawberries, grapes and pears in a mixture of red wine, brandy, sugar and citrus-flavored soda. It may be drunk immediately, though some people like to let it stew for a day.







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