Fruit Salad:
1 pineapple, cut into chunks
1 cantaloupe, " " "
1 small container blackberries
1 1/2-2 bananas, coined
orange zest to taste
Chilled Strawberry Compote:
2 cups frozen strawberries, slightly thawed
1 capful vanilla extract
sugar and orange zest to taste
I pulled this month's recipe exchange theme of salads from my love of
Bountiful Baskets. All of the ingredients are from either the most recent basket I partook of or from previous baskets which I then froze.
See, I was a bit apprehensive to contribute to Bountiful Baskets at first because I was afraid I wouldn't use the produce in time and it would spoil. It's actually just the opposite. If I have too much of something (like the strawberries), I simply cleaned them, halved them, and put them in a freezer-safe bag for later use. Strawberries don't thaw back to their original glory, which is why I made a compote instead of just tossing them with the rest of the salad.
I'm also trying to utilize as much of this fresh produce as possible, so I take my peels, skins, rinds, etc... put them in a bag and add them to a compost pile I started last year in my backyard (hence the bag on the right hand side in the picture above)
Well, back to the salad!
After slicing and dicing the melon and pineapple, I rinsed and added the blackberries. Any berry can be used; this was just what came in the basket this last time!
Then, I realized I really needed something to give it a refreshing taste, and remembered the orange zest I froze months ago from a few baskets.
I have sprinkled this citrusy goodness on top of rice crispy treats, added it to frostings, in scone mix, and even a pinch in a spicy soup once (seriously). A little goes along way, but it's always great to add a fresh taste to various recipes that call for orange juice or any citrus.
Finally, I noticed the bowl lacked a little color, so I grabbed my frozen strawberries, defrosted them on low in the microwave for about a minute or so, then began to hack away at it to create more of a slush-type texture (which also slightly alarmed the kiddies to see their mommy stabbing away at something so red...)
As for the recipe to make chilled strawberry compote, I found this
gourmet recipe on-line, but realized half of the ingredients were already in the fruit salad, so I kept it REALLY basic.
I just added a little bit of sugar, vanilla and orange zest. There you go!
I didn't get around to taking a picture of the finished product because I was too busy consuming that and other delicious salad recipes.
This was a great theme this month and I can hardly wait for next month's theme of crockpots!
After slicing and dicing the melon and pineapple, I rinsed and added the blackberries. Any berry can be used; this was just what came in the basket this last time!
I have sprinkled this citrusy goodness on top of rice crispy treats, added it to frostings, in scone mix, and even a pinch in a spicy soup once (seriously). A little goes along way, but it's always great to add a fresh taste to various recipes that call for orange juice or any citrus.
