When fresh fruit is plentiful, some of our other favorite things to make are Old-Fashioned Fresh Peach Ice Cream, Fresh Strawberry Pie, and Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream.
Summer Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Poppy Seed Dressing
I don’t know about you guys, but lately my fridge and countertops have been filled to bursting with all the fresh, seasonal fruit that has been available for some pretty amazing prices at our local farmer’s market. Just the other week my favorite fruit vendor was selling all his stone fruit – peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots – for $1/pound, and it was amazingly sweet and juicy and delicious! Hence the Southern Peach Pie I posted about the other day. So it only made sense to throw together a quick and easy Summer Fruit Salad to go with dinner the other night. And the night after that, and the night after that…. I remember many summer potlucks at family reunions when I was growing up where there were always tables filled with tons of amazing dishes. But it was always the salads that drew me in. Cold pasta salads (like BLT Pasta Salad and Hawaiian macaroni salad!), potato salad, fresh green salads with crunchy toppings, fluffy cottage cheese Jell-O salads, and always a fresh fruit salad, loaded with all my favorite summer fruits!
How to Make the BEST Summer Fruit Salad
This recipe is super simple (to the point of it hardly being a “recipe” at all) and adaptable to whatever fruit you have on hand and it takes me right back to my childhood and those family reunion potlucks. I used cherries, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, bananas and grapes in my summer fruit salad, but mango, kiwi, oranges, blackberries, apples, etc. would all be delicious as well! I tend to feel like a true fruit salad needs at least 4-7 varieties of fruit. The only two fruits I tend to avoid when making this type of fruit salad are pineapple and watermelon. I find that the juice from the pineapple tends to overwhelm other fruit flavors and the pineapple chunks starts looking ugly since they get stained from the other juices in the salad. And watermelon tends to break down too much compared to the other fruit. That’s just my personal take on fruit salad, but obviously you can add them if you want to, especially if you plan to serve the salad immediately so they don’t have much time to break down. As for the dressing, it’s just a quick mix of honey, lime juice and poppy seeds drizzled over the fresh fruit and tossed. I know, summer fruits hardly need any dressing at all, but really this quick, easy glaze draws out the flavor of the fruit and takes fruit salad to the next level. Plus, the lime adds a bright citrus note while serving double duty keeping the bananas and other fruits fresh and preventing them from browning and looking, um, not fresh. And I love the little bit of crunch and texture from the poppy seeds. This easy, summer fruit salad with honey lime poppy seed dressing is perfect for entertaining or just as a weeknight side-dish (or dessert, even!). Or for breakfast with a protein packed frittata.
More Summer Side Dishes To Take to Potlucks
Best Baked Beans RecipeRaspberry Pretzel SaladDeviled Egg Potato SaladGrilled Corn SaladCottage Cheese Jello Salad
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
