Isn’t it just amazing how much color that fresh fruits and vegetables can add to a meal? As we do every Sunday, my family got together for lunch, and fruit was to be my contribution this past weekend. I love fresh pineapple, but had never bought a whole one. The spiny exterior has always seemed a bit daunting, and the courage to try it has always eluded me… until now.

Has anyone used one of those corers to get the pineapple started? I try to stay away from single-purpose tools in the kitchen, so I don’t know if I would be very interested in owning one. As you can see from the picture, I just sliced it down the middle (well, just to one side of the stem). From there, I cut it basically like a mango or avocado, making strips, and cutting each strip into bite-sized chunks. It really wasn’t all that much work, and since fresh pineapple tastes so much better than canned, I’m pretty sure I will be doing this again!

The best part about fruit salads is that you can just toss whatever you have (or whatever sounds good) into the bowl. Unlike baking, there is no need to worry about proportions of different ingredients, or even the order to which they are added. That is one thing I love about salads in general… just cut it up and toss it in the bowl.

I also gave another fruit a test run in prepping this dish. I picked up a couple of prickly pears (cactus), but after slicing, we realized that they were filled with small, very hard seeds, and decided they would not work well in the fruit salad. Anybody have any recommendations for how to eat them?

For this mixture, we chopped up some grapes, strawberries, and kiwi to add to the pineapple. So simple. So healthy. So delicious.

So, how about you? What fresh fruits have you seen in the grocery and always wanted to try, but haven’t had the courage yet?