Fruit salads can make a healthy dessert.
A fruit salad is typically a cold dish in which fruit is a key ingredient. You can make some fruit salads entirely from various different fruits, while other salad recipes call for ingredients such as leafy greens or cold meats. Fruit cocktail is similar to fruit salad, but you make it using fruit that has been diced quite small, whereas fruit salads usually contain large pieces of fruit.
History
Fruit salads of one variety or another have been part of most cultures' cuisines since antiquity. Dishes of fresh or dried fruits, nuts and other ingredients, depending on availability, appear in many places. The fruit salads we are more familiar with today, consisting mostly of local and sometimes tropical fresh fruits, are a product of the 19th century. Fruit salad gained popularity as inexpensive tinned and fresh fruit became more widely available.
Nutrition
Fruit salads are generally low in calories and fat, although this depends on the ingredients. They are high in vitamins A and C, as well as minerals, including manganese. Fruit salads are also a good source of dietary fiber.
Prepackaged Fruit Salads
Prepackaged fruit salads may come tinned or they may be made from fresh fruit, in which case they are typically packaged in plastic. Prepackaged fruit salads can make a tasty, convenient snack or dessert, but some can be high in added sugar. If you're counting calories, check the ingredients for added sugar and syrups. Choose fruit salads or fruit cocktails that are packaged in juice or water over those packaged in syrups.
Sweet Fruit Salad Recipes
You can serve sweet fruit salads as a dessert, a snack or as part of breakfast. Some recipes derive all of their sweetness from fruit. Adding raisins and other dried fruits will make your salad sweeter. Other recipes call for sweetening ingredients such as honey, powdered or caster sugar, syrup, condensed milk, sweetened packaged gelatin or marshmallows. Note that these ingredients are likely to raise the calorie count of the salad.
Savory Fruit Salads
Savory fruit salads combine fruits with other, less sweet ingredients. You can add interest to your green salad by including oranges or strawberries; fruit complements other salad vegetables well. Nuts and cheese are often included in fruit salad recipes; traditional combinations include pears and blue cheese, for example. Savory fruit salads may be dressed with pepper, lemon juice, vinegar or mayonnaise. Cold meats such as ham may also be added to fruit salad.
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