Hawaiian Fruit Salad

Bring a taste of the islands home.

When you want to bring a taste of Hawaii's tropical islands, make a Hawaiian fruit salad. The islands of Hawaii are home to a variety of native and introduced fruits such as passion fruit, acai, guava, bananas, coconuts, mangos, mountain apple, noni, pineapple and papaya. The Centers for Disease Control encourage individuals to eat fruit because it can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, aid with weight loss and maintenance, and provide a good source of fiber and essential vitamins and nutrients.

Things You'll Need

• 3 pineapples
• 2 oranges
• 1 papaya
• 1 star fruit
• 1 mango
• 1 banana
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ½-cup frozen pineapple concentrate, thawed
• ¼-cup shredded coconut

Instructions

1. Prepare the fruits. Slice and cut the pineapple into wedges. Peel and slice the oranges. Remove the ribs and slice the star fruit. Peel and de-seed a papaya before cutting it into wedges. Peel and cube the mango. Peel the banana, slice it and set it aside.

2. Arrange the pineapple, oranges, star fruit, papaya and mango on a large serving platter.

3. In a separate bowl, pour the lime juice over the banana slices to prevent them from browning. Lightly toss and place the bananas on the platter, but save the lime juice in the bowl.

4. Mix the lime juice with the pineapple concentrate. Spoon the mixture over the fruits to enhance their flavors.

5. Sprinkle the shredded coconut over the fruit on the platter.

Tips & Warnings

• You can add other fruits you like to the platter, such as grapes, passion fruit, strawberries, guava or kiwi.

• Consider serving vanilla bean ice cream or a lime sorbet as an accompaniment to the fruits.

• Arrange the fruits nicely on the serving platter by lining the outside of the platter with the bigger pieces of fruit, and placing the smaller pieces of fruit in the middle. Alternatively, you can group like fruits together so guests do not have to pick through the fruit to find their favorite kinds.

• Instead of using a serving platter to display the foods, consider using a hallowed half-pineapple.

• To make a creamy Hawaiian fruit salad, make a creamy yogurt dressing. Mix two to four cups of flavored yogurt with the fruit in a bowl. Taste of Home recommends using piña colada or vanilla-flavored yogurt. Add to the mix a quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract and a half-cup of coconut milk. If you are feeling adventurous, add a half teaspoon of cinnamon to the mix.

• Freeze the leftover fruit to make smoothies.

References

• Taste of Home
• Hawaii Wedding Guide
• Trade Winds Fruit
• Centers for Disease Control