Make a Fruit Salad

• Step 1 Select fresh fruit

  A farmers’ market is the perfect setting for finding fruit at its seasonal peak. Your options will vary by season. In the summer, you're likely to be overwhelmed with choices. One approach is to go with a theme and select tropical fruits such as pineapple, mango and papaya. Or, make a salad from stone fruits such as plums, peaches, nectarines and cherries. Watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew melon are also a winning combination.

  Fresh berries always make a delicious and colorful addition to any fruit salad. When the days grow shorter in fall, citrus is typically at its peak. For a fresh and colorful winter fruit salad, select a combination of apples, pears, oranges and pomegranate seeds. There are no hard and fast rules for combining fruit, but it's nice to have at least three different kinds of fruit in a salad.

• Step 2 Prepare the fruit

  Prepare your fruit based on how you plan to serve it. Bite-size pieces are best for fruit salad, no matter how it’s served. While it’s a logical choice, fruit salad need not be served in a serving bowl. Fruit salad is fun when served on a stick as a “fruit kebab.” It’s also fun to serve fruit salad in a bowl made from fruit, such as "orange cups." Cut an orange in half, remove the citrus (to add to the salad) and use the empty skin as a bowl for the salad. Fruit bowls can also be made from melons such as cantaloupes and watermelons, or from pineapples. If you use fruit as your bowl, be sure to include it in the salad. You might need to take a slice off the bottom of the fruit bowl to make it sit flat.

• Step 3 Dress it up - or not - and serve

  The great thing about fresh fruit is that it really doesn’t need a dressing. The juicy goodness of ripe fruit is nature’s dressing, and oftentimes that’s enough. If you choose to add a dressing to fruit salad, keep it on the lighter side. Simple dressings such as walnut or almond oil are tasty additions to most fruit salads. Fresh squeezed lime juice, lemon juice and orange juice work well, too, and their acidity keeps some fruits such as bananas and apples from turning brown. A splash of Champagne or liqueur also makes for an elegant dressing. Honey or agave nectar can also be used to sweeten a tart fruit salad.

  Other additions can be used to dress up a fruit salad. Tropical fruit salads are nice with shredded coconut and chopped macadamia nuts. Take an apple, pear and orange salad to the next level by adding some crumbled blue cheese. Other delicious ways to dress up fruit salads include adding fresh herbs such as mint, basil, or thyme, minced ginger, plain yogurt or nuts such as pistachios or sliced almonds.

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