Simplest Summer Fruit Melange
1 handful strawberries, trimmed & sliced
1 handful blackberries
1 handful sweet cherries, pitted & halved
1-2 T. fresh mint, chopped
1/2 T. balsamic vinegarCombine strawberries, blackberries, cherries, and mint in a bowl. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and toss to coat.
Note: You can cut and mix the fruit ahead of time, but don’t add the mint or vinegar until you’re about to serve it — otherwise the mint turns a bit brown and the balsamic will overpower the flavor of the fruit.
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Here’s another dish that barely qualifies as a recipe, but is so delicious that I wanted to share… simple summer fruit salad with fresh mint and balsamic — it’s sweet, tangy, minty, a little savory, and surprisingly, with just two additional ingredients, it’s leaps and bounds beyond plain mixed berries or fruit salad.
During these warm summer months I find myself eating a lot of simple, barely-prepared foods, favoring raw preparations and allowing the natural flavors of summer produce to shine. As much as I love fall and winter vegetables, most of these you simply can’t enjoy raw — imagine, raw butternut squash?? raw turnips?? raw rutabaga?? no thank you!
So, while I can, I bathe in the loveliness of raw summer produce — tomato salads, stone fruit (with or without a touch of warm honey), berries, raw corn (yep, if it’s super fresh, corn is absolutely delicious raw), fresh leafy herbs, juicy peppers, crisp cucumbers with a pinch of salt — ah! even though it’s July, these delicacies are just getting into full swing at the farmer’s market. I am looking forward to 2-3 months of harvest!
This fruit salad may even make an appearance at our July 5th BBQ (yep, 5th) — instead of celebrating on the 4th, we’re BBQ-ing on the 5th, then heading to a Stevie Wonder concert at Shoreline Amphitheater… gotta love Stevie! Are you making anything special for the 4th? or 5th? :)
Still Hungry? Try one of these:
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July 3rd, 2008at 10:47 pm(#)
I love non-recipe recipes though. In the summer I love simple dishes too :)
July 4th, 2008at 10:32 am(#)
This definitely qualifies as a recipe in my book…I’m gonna make it for todays BBQ! It looks so pretty and it’s the perfect dessert too!
Happy 4th of July to you Jen!
July 4th, 2008at 2:02 pm(#)
magpie – do you have any favorite non-recipes? I’m always interested in what other people come up with!
White on Rice Couple – thanks! Happy 4th to you too! If you want to get fancy for dessert, you might consider topping it with a bit of balsamic whipped cream (add 1/2t. balsamic to taste to 1c. whipping cream, them whip as normal to make whipped cream) — yum!
July 7th, 2008at 5:10 am(#)
There’s just something about summer fruit that no matter what form, it always looks like a 5 Star dish. It makes me want to sit out on the deck with a plate of juicy berries and just enjoy the moment.
July 7th, 2008at 8:49 pm(#)
Summer berry + balsamic vinegar + mint = delice!!!!!!
Yes, I eat raw corn too, infact I made radish, avocado and fresh corn salad once a week during summer. I’ve posted the recipe on last month (6/22).
July 7th, 2008at 9:53 pm(#)
giz — add a glass of prosecco and some sunshine and you’ve got my ideal saturday afternoon :)
elra — that sounds delicious! I love french breakfast radishes sliced paper thing, and can imagine what a wonderful combination they would be with fresh raw corn… do you ever go to Webb ranch? I like their sign ‘Fresh Corn Picked Hourly’…
July 9th, 2008at 10:06 am(#)
yum yum yummers.
July 13th, 2008at 12:31 pm(#)
Raw rutabaga rocks!
My mom had to chase my brother and I out of the kitchen when she was prepping it to (blech!) boil and mash–we hated it cooked but loved it raw!