Fruit Salad with Sorrel and Almond Lemon Cream

August Cooking By Color – Red

As August comes to a close summer in Texas still burns on. My diet this summer has been high raw, maybe about 50% on most days. I’ve been crazy about fruit. We get beautiful berries at the beginning of summer and then stone fruits like peaches, plums, nectarines, pluots, apricots, and other hybrids start popping up later. When these two types of fruit come together in a fruit salad it’s pretty magical.

Wouldn’t you agree?

When pondering on fruit salad you can’t really go wrong. Keep it simple and use at least three fruits of various colors and textures. Ideally something sweet and something tart. If you choose all tart fruits add a touch of sweetener. If your salad is too sweet add a touch of lemon juice and/or lemon zest. Those are the basics of fruit salad making.

But what if you want to change it up and add herbs? That would be a really good idea. I went to the farmer’s market on the hunt for something that would go perfectly in my fruit salad and what came to mind before I even got there was sorrel. I hadn’t had sorrel in ages!! That would be most excellent in my fruit salad. And lo and behold the farmer’s market provided! Over-provided actually because the bunch of sorrel was huge. Way more than I needed for my fruit salad. Thankfully it is delicious chopped up in a savory salad as well.

Have you had sorrel before? It’s a perennial herb that looks more like spinach than say basil or mint. It’s somewhat bitter and grassy with a lovely lemon aftertaste. I thought it went nicely with the sweetness of the raspberries and pineapple but you’ll have to be the judge!

We top this sweet and tart fruit salad with an easy almond creme. Boiling the almonds will make the skins easy to remove and soften them up to make a nice creamy sauce. When they are cool enough to handle rub them together between your hands to loosen up the peels. If you prefer to leave the skins on you are more than welcome but soak them for a good two hours then drain off the water.

Share with us: How do you do your fruit salad? What are your favorite combinations?

Fruit Salad with Sorrel and Almond Lemon Cream
Makes about 4 servings

1 (6 ounce) package raspberries
2 yellow nectarines or peaches, sliced
1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
1 cup sorrel, finely chopped

Almond Lemon Creme:
1 cup almonds
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
About 15 drops vanilla stevia (I use NuNaturals brand)
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions:
Boil almonds for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold water to remove the shells. While almonds are boiling, chop fruits and sorrel and put into a big bowl. Using a Magic Bullet (or food processor), combine blanched almonds, lemon zest, lemon juice, stevia, and almond milk and blend until smooth. Taste and add more sweetener or lemon as you like. Blend until smooth and creamy, added more milk as needed. To serve place a serving of fruit and sorrel salad in a bowl and top with a dollop of Almond Lemon Creme.

What color would you like to see next month for our Cooking By Color feature? Let us know in the comments!