Once you’ve discovered the delights of adding fruit to salads, there’s no going back! Sceptical? Try this quick thought exercise: picture the masses of different fruits out there and then start to pick and mix. You’ll soon see that there are dozens and dozens of new combinations you might never have thought of.
But don’t just imagine it—experiment! By all means add fresh fruit to salads, but try out some fruit dressings, balsamic glazes and vinaigrettes as well. You have no idea what a dash of raspberry does to tomato or what a perfect pairing mango and cheese make. More ideas? Here are three mouthwatering recipes for salads with fruit:
Goat’s cheese, strawberry and spinach salad
Start with a bed of shiny, fresh spinach leaves with plenty of texture and then add some strong, creamy goat’s cheese. Wash, dry and slice up some strawberries and dress with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and vinegar or Modena balsamic vinegar. Top it off with some toasted pine nuts, raisins or walnuts.
Avocado, mango and prawn salad
This time, we’ll use rocket instead of spinach to give it a bit more of a bite (if you’d prefer a milder flavour, you can mix in some lamb’s lettuce as well). On top of the green leaves, arrange some cooked, peeled and cleaned king prawns (use a toothpick to remove the vein), together with some mango and avocado chunks (as big or small as you like).
Chicory with pear and blue cheese
An ideal starter or appetiser, this festival of flavours combines the bitter edge of chicory with sharp, salty blue cheese and sweet pear. Wash and dry the chicory leaves and arrange them on a dish with the curved sides facing upwards. Crumble the blue cheese over the chicory and then add the sliced or cubed pear. Top off with some peeled, chopped walnuts.
