Recipe: Laureen’s Fabulous Fresh Fruit Salad :: Easy Like a Sunday Morning

Easy Like a Sunday Morning, that’s how the recipes in my “Easy” category will be. Nothing rushed or frantic, nothing with a long list of ingredients. Something that is so easy, you don’t really need a recipe. Something that almost cooks itself or requires no cooking at all.

Aren’t you just loving the days as they get longer and warmer? I know I sure am and Saturday night the moon was bigger and brighter than I think I’ve ever seen it. Speaking of the moon, this blog post is a day late because we went on one of our little mini-getaways in the city. Do you ever “vacation” in your own city? Even though we’re only half an hour from home, it’s nice to getaway and it’s especially nice when the weather is warm enough and the sky is clear enough, for you to sit out and enjoy a glass of wine under a beautiful, big bright full moon.

On the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by mountains, Vancouver is a beautiful city. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, we love it here!

On Saturday, we caught the matinée performance of Henry And Alice Into The Wild, at the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre on the Granville Island Stage. It’s a funny and enjoyable production, especially if you’re fifty something, which we are.

After the theatre, some friends joined us for a wonderful dinner at Edible Canada – at the Market. If you’re ever in Vancouver, you really must make a point of dining there. I can’t recommend it highly enough. We do find it a bit pricey but we find most everything on Granville Island is that way. Once in a while, you have to treat yourself.

Edible Canada is one of those rare restaurants where there are very few items on the menu that are not gluten free. Self described as a “locavore” retail company, their menu changes often, as they source BC’s local ingredients but one thing is constant and that is the level of service and knowledge the staff have about gluten free dining options.

I generally feel some trepidation when dining out but I am almost giddy about dining at Edible Canada Bistro because most of their menu items are either gluten free or can be prepared as such. We were excited to share a basket of gluten free bread with our friends who do not follow a gluten free diet. Made locally by High Crow Gluten Free Foods in a dedicated gluten free commercial kitchen, crusty on the outside, soft and airy on the inside, this fresh white bread, is one you wouldn’t believe is gluten free. We always find the staff at Edible Canada to be very accommodating. This time, they swapped out apple cider vinegar for malt vinegar to make my starter gluten free. For my entrée, I had a piece of halibut served on a bed of fresh green peas and edamame beans. Creme Brûlée for dessert with a lovely cup of loose leaf tea from the Granville Island Tea Co. Awww, pure bliss!

It’s no wonder we think the restaurant is pricey. In my enthusiasm, I practically order one of everything on the menu and then I kind of pig out but I’m telling you, gluten free or not, the dishes they serve at Edible Canada at the Market are beautifully presented and bowl licking good…hehe, that’s where the gluten free bread comes in handy!

Anyways, enough about my love affair with Edible Canada. You would probably like to hear about the Fresh Fruit Salad pictured here. Well known and often requested in my little corner of the world, this is something I have made for years. It’s so easy, this is more of a “how to” than a recipe.

The number of servings and the time it takes to prepare the fruit salad, will depend upon the number and quantity of fruits you put into it. If you plan to make one as large as the one I made here (about two gallons), you might want to enlist the help of others. When my kids were little, they would get up on a step stool (or bench as my youngest called it) to “help”. I would do the things that required a sharper knife like peeling and seeding the fruit. My helpers would use a duller knife to chop the softer fruits into bite size pieces.

Now that our three children are all grown up and have left home, the Hubby and I will work together to make one of these Fabulous Fresh Fruit Salads. And the kids, they are still involved, as there is no way Mr Fox and I could eat two gallons of fresh fruit before it got all brown and mushy.