Fruit Salad & Yogurt

There are two types of fruit salads depending on how it is served, either as a main dish or side dish. Here's how to make a quick fruit salad breakfast.

Main Dish:

When the fruit salad is the main component of a meal, like for breakfast, it can have;
  • A banana for a base. This will give it some substance and make it more filling.
  • One other main fruit for flavor. Keep it simple. One other piece of fruit, like a peach, is plenty to make a full meal. Good choices are; a peach, nectarine, pear, a couple of apricots, fresh figs, a shredded apple, pitted cherries, mango, papaya, etc. On the other hand, some fruits do not go well (taste wise) with banana and yogurt; diced melons, acid fruits (pineapple, orange, tangerine, grapefruit), grapes etc.
  • Low-fat vanilla yogurt. This provides the protein portion of the meal, prolongs digestion and moderates the absorption of fruit sugars over time. ½ - ¾ cup is plenty.
  • Optionally some toppings as a garnish to make it interesting. Choose one or two. Sprinkle 1-2 Tbsp of; shredded coconut, chopped dates, raisins, other dried fruit, fresh berries (blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, cut strawberry), apple wedges, granola or finely chopped nuts.
  • A whole grain toast or English muffin on the side. This provides some additional calories, fiber and a more sustained release of energy. Fruits by themselves digest quickly into simple sugars and will not keep one full for long.

Side Dish:

A fruit salad served as a side dish will not generally have yogurt and will not have fruits that brown when cut like bananas, apples, pears etc. It can be made with any combination of fruits that go well with each other (taste wise) and can include diced melons, acid fruits, grapes and many others. A good color contrast makes it appealing. Sometimes a dressing is used. These are good for potlucks, picnics, breakfast buffets etc. where other dishes provide the main protein and carbs. Most recipes on the internet are this type.

Directions:

  1. Slice a banana.
  2. Cut up a complementary fruit. Shredding an apple on a grator gives a nice texture. In the example below, ¾ of the apple was grated, ¼ was sliced for a garnish.
  3. Add in the yogurt and mix.
  4. Sprinkle on the toppings.

A Few Examples:

Fruit salad ingredients Fruit salad ingredients Fruit salad ingredients
Mango fruit salad Apple fruit salad Papaya fruit salad
Mango & Coconut Apple & Granola Papaya & Chopped Walnuts


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