Red Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Cream – Light and Healthy

Are you concerned about how much food you and your family will gobble down and indulge in during the feasting season of Christmas? Or are you staying true to yourself by adding some restraint to the days ahead and keeping things as real as possible? My kids are health nuts, so years ago we added this Winter Fruit Salad to our dinner menu line-up and dropped several of the heavier dishes we traditionally include.

Since adding this winter fruit salad to our Christmas food line-up, it has won accolades among the pickiest of eaters in my family . . . who were already super health-conscious. It’s sure to be a big hit among your family and friends, too. And it’s so much fun to present this lovely red fruit salad alongside all the heavier, more fattening dishes.

Plus, it’s easy, simple, and comes together in no time — taking less than 30 minutes to cut up all of the fruit, toss it together, and DONE . . . ready for the table!

The only criteria I had to guide me in creating this recipe was that the dish had to consist of raw, bare naked, red fruit for a strong holiday presentation to ‘wow’ everyone. I focused on having a variety of red fruits as the stars of the show.

This winter fruit salad is so refreshing, loaded with red fruit for the perfect light, healthy, and colorful addition to your holiday table! Health and flavor are normally not very happy camper combinations in recipes, with flavor usually taking the biggest hit. Not so with this fruit salad!

It’s as flavorful as it looks.

There’s no dressing in this winter fruit salad to weight it down or cause the fruit to wilt or discolor. Instead there’s light, lemony topping that compliments rather than cover up the fresh fruit flavor. Guests can add or not.

I guarantee that you’ll be wanting seconds!

Tips for Making a Delicious Winter Fruit Salad

Fruit salads are some of the easiest recipes to prepare, and so flexible on top, but here are a few tips:

• Keep it fresh! Prepare this the day that you will serve it. But preparing fruit salad too early causes the fruit to break down and lose its juices, which causes the fruit to look old. The fresher the better.
• Don’t add any ingredient that isn’t ripe because they will taste sour.
• All fruit should be at the same level of ripeness.
• Cut all of the fruit into the same bite-size pieces.
• If you’re using a vinaigrette to lightly dress the fruit salad, make it the day before serving and up to 3 days. Dress the salad just before serving.
• Present this beautiful salad in a large trifle dish by layering the ingredients.
• You may want your fruit salad to be a little more on the sweet side. Use powdered sugar, brown or white sugar, or Greek yogurt. You can also make a simple sugar syrup (what all bartenders use).
• Add the watermelon last because it releases its juices.
• Add the raspberries at the end too because they become mushy.
• Adding lemon zest gives a little zing to the fruit salad.

So Let’s Get To The Kitchen! Andiamo a Cucina!

Ingredients for Winter Red Fruit Salad

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Seedless red cherries
• Watermelon
• Red Delicious apples
• Red pomegranate arils
• Red grapefruit
• Red grapes
• Red onions
• Optional: Thickly chopped bacon bits
• Optional: Tiny drizzle of Red Wine Vinegar

Non-Red Ingredients That Enhance Visual Appeal

• Sliced bananas
• Blueberries
• Pineapple chunks
• Fresh basil
• Fresh mint
• Flaked coconut
• Slivered almonds or pine nuts (pignoli) for extra crunch
• Praline pecans
• Lemon yogurt
• Lemon zest and/or lemon juice