Today's vegetable recipe: An unusual and refreshing salad, a bright mix of chopped fruits and vegetables tossed with no more than salt and pepper and a little cinnamon. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. Vegan. No added fat.
So why is it that 'vegetables' are usually served as a side dish and 'fruit' as dessert? This salad really surprised me. Not only is it pretty -- isn't it pretty?! -- but instead of being a 'savory' salad, as expected, it's a 'sweet' salad, despite having no added sugar. The fruit alone adds so much sweetness to the crunch of the vegetables -- it made for a wonderful light dessert two nights in a row, and I can't wait to make it again.
The salad's texture was best shortly after it was mixed but the flavors melded beautifully after resting a few hours that I'm happy to say that it can be made in advance a few hours or even overnight. You could use any vegetables, I suppose, but the cantaloupe and apple, the cucumber and peppers, all mixed with the citrus, well, they were just perfect, just perfect.
MIXED FRUIT & VEGETABLE SALAD
Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 25 minutes
Makes about 4 cups
Time to table: 25 minutes
Makes about 4 cups
1 apple, skin on
1 cup cantaloupe
1/2 an English cucumber, skin on
2 bell peppers (I used 1 green and 1 yellow, red would have added color contrast)
1 orange
Zest and juice of a lime
Fresh basil, cut into ribbons
Cinnamon to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
Cut the apple, cantaloupe, cucumber and peppers into a small neat dice.
Zest the orange, then slice off the skin, cut the flesh into a small neat dice. Stir the orange zest, orange flesh and remaining ingredients into the fruit and vegetable mixture. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with a sprinkle of additional cinnamon and a piece of fresh basil.
KITCHEN NOTES
A reader's comment (see below) reminds me to remind others to always wash cantaloupes (and other fruits) very well. It's easy for bacteria to collect on the rough skin and be carried into the flesh by the knife as the melon is cut. MORE RECIPES that MIX FRUITS & VEGETABLES
~ Celery & Apple Salad ~
~ Green Smoothies ~
~ Tomato & Cherry Gazpacho ~
~ more recipes that mix fruits with vegetables ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
~ Celery & Apple Salad ~
~ Green Smoothies ~
~ Tomato & Cherry Gazpacho ~
~ more recipes that mix fruits with vegetables ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
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Your Comments:
Thanks for posting.
Best regards from Spain.
I noticed that you had cantaloupe in this salad.
After a disastrous two-day bowel 'incident' for my husband, we now SCRUB every cantaloupe and or fruit that comes under my jurisdiction.
A small amount of dish soap and a nailbrush, over the entire surface of the cantaloupe. Getting the bacteria off the netting is very, very important.
The doctors showed a cantaloupe on "The Doctor's" television show, and dropped blue food coloring onto the netting. As they cut down into the fruit, a generous amount of blue coloring invaded into the fruit. The blue coloring simulated the bacteria on the outside of the unwashed fruit on the netting.
My husband will not eat any cantaloupe unless I have prepped it. I have taken the precaution of washing or at least vigorously rinsing all fruit, even bananas before cutting into them.
A little precaution saves a lot of bowel misery. Pass it on, it is rare for a summer 'flu', most likely it is food poisoning.
best, Stephen
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