Fresh fruit, no matter the time of year, is one of my favorite things to snack on. But during the winter months, I find myself not eating as much fruit as I typically do in the summer. Maybe because most of my favorite fruits are summer fruits like melons and pineapples. But as soon as I pick up crisp and sweet apples or delicious pears or citrus, I remember how much I love winter fruits too.
A winter fruit salad is a refreshing and delicious way to get in some of your vitamins. Which are great for your immune system to ward off winter-related illnesses too. How nice is it to get in your vitamins with delicious oranges, pears and kiwi fruits versus a boring multivitamin with your morning coffee. Here’s my easy to make, winter fruit salad recipe that’s perfect to keep in the fridge, serve at a party or just have as a sweet snack throughout the day. Plus, this is much prettier and more cost-effective to make at home than buying store-bought from the grocery stores. Nothing makes me more sad than pre-cut fruit from the store.
Ingredients
- 2 Oranges (any citrus, blood oranges, tangerines, tangelos)
- 2 Apples (red delicious and green apples are great for color)
- 2 Kiwis
- 1-2 Pears – I really love a Bosc or Asian pear
- 1 tbsp of poppyseed dressing
- Juice of 1 orange (segments removed)
- 1/4 of pomegranate for seeds
Instructions
Step One – Prep Your Fruit
Get all your fruit sliced and ready to go. You can slice them up thinly, or cube everything if you like. I like the look of the sliced fruit and they’re easy enough to cut with a fork that you don’t need to worry about it being difficult to eat. I like to keep it all together on a cutting board before adding it to the platter.
For the oranges, I cut these as supremes. That’s where you cut off the skin and pitch and then cut into each segment around the membranes to get perfect supremes. Keep the membrane, this is what I used to thin the dressing.
Step Two – Arrange On A Platter
Take a serving platter and arrange the fruit around the platter. I like to mix things up and mix up the colors. Top with pomegranate arils. You can also use a large bowl and mix it all together if you like. With so many colors to play with you can mix it all up or create a rainbow! Have fun with it.
Step Three – Make The Dressing
The dressing is just any store bought poppyseed dressing that I then thinned out with about 2 tbsps of orange juice (I eyeballed this). I just used the leftover membrane of the orange to squeeze into the dressing to make it super easy. You can also use a little lemon juice or lime juice if you like which will make it a little more tart. But I felt like the orange really worked with everything.
Tips For Winter Fruit Salad
Prevent Browning
To prevent browning of the apples and pears, be sure to serve this immediately if you can. But if you can’t, you can toss your fruit in a little lemon or orange juice. The acid helps to keep them from browning.
Use Ripe Fruits
Obviously, use fruits that are ripe and ready to eat. So plan ahead if you are buying fruit a few days before you’re serving. Or if you’re whipping this up to eat right away, be sure to pick up fruit that’s ripe and ready to eat!
Try A Honey Lime Dressing
If you’re not into a poppy seed dressing, you can also try a honey lime dressing instead. A simple syrup of honey and lime juice and a little zest can be a nice addition to this fruit! But I love the poppy seed dressing and I use that in my Brussels and butternut squash salad too (recipe here).
Use Any Kind Of Citrus
There’s so many great citrus fruits out there in the winter time so give some new ones a try! You can try grapefruit, gorgeous blood oranges and a childhood favorite, tangelos. If you can’t find a citrus you love, or want to make things in a pinch, mandarin oranges also work great too from a can.
Storing Leftovers
If you have any of this delicious fruit salad left over, you can store it in a tupperware in the fridge for a few days. I would definitely add a good splash of lemon juice to it and toss it all together to ensure your fruit is covered with some acid to prevent browning.
