Karl’s Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Mint Sauce

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and the following day is Miriam’s birthday. Jan requested something with avocado and Miriam wanted a fruit salad. Most weekends we have Sunday dinner, but Chris wanted to take his wife out for her birthday, so we are having brunch this weekend.

I do not do fancy brunches very often, so this is taking me out of my normal range of dishes. Normally, for fruit salad, I would just chop up everything and toss it in a bowl to be served “family-style.” With the double occasion I decided that I would have to present arraigned salads.

Karl’s Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Mint Sauce

Ingredients

1 mango, sliced
2 kiwi, sliced
1 pear
1½ cup strawberries, stemmed
1 cup blackberries
1 cup raspberries

Honey Lime Mint Sauce

¼ tsp. lime zest
1 lime, juiced
¼ cup honey

4 mint leaves, minced (see instructions step 9)
pinch Kosher salt

Garnishes

Sprigs mint
1-2 Tbs. toasted shaved coconut

Directions

1. Cut the mango into slices

Tip: Cut the stem side of the mango—this gives you a flat base that keeps the fruit stable while you are slicing down through the mango. Set the mango with the point up on the cutting board. Cut down on both sides of the pit—the pit is flat and oval and its wide part is in line with the wide part of the fruit. Peel the halves and lay them flat on the cutting board. Cut the halves into slices.

Note: I have seen chefs who peel the mango before they make their first cuts to remove the pit. This strikes me as slippery and dangerous.

2. Peel and slice the kiwi into rounds.

Note: If you are arraigning your salads, as I am, you will be using a set number of slices of each fruit. You may chop up the extra ad add it to the salad or save it for another use. I did this with the extra kiwi, because I thought the salads needed a touch more green.

3. Peel, core, and cut the pear pole to pole into slices.

4. Set three strawberries upside down in the center of your bowl.

Tip: This acts as a base for your salad and keeps the mango slices from sliding down.

5. Put 2-3 of the most attractive slices standing up like a fan at the backs of your individual bowls.

6. Attractively arrange the berries in the bowls.

7. Place one kiwi slice against the mango slices—so it rises out of the berries.

8. Place one slice of pear and any other fruit you wish into the bowls.

9. Stack the mint leaves and mince them with the salt.

Tip: This is an America’s Test Kitchen trick. The salt brings out the moisture in the herbs to make the bits stick together and makes it easier to get a very fine mince.

Note: A pinch of salt stimulates the taste buds, but there is not enough to taste “salty.”

10. Put the mint and sauce ingredients in a small pot to warm and mix them.

11. Drizzle the sauce over the individual salads.

12. Garnish the salads with the mint sprigs and a few flakes of the coconut.

13. Serve chilled.