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.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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? :)
« Dilly Wax Beans | Home | Fresh From the Farmer’s Market Blog Carnival #5 »
