It’s no secret that I love salads. My go-to meal when I don’t know what to have is always to throw together a salad with lots of fresh veggies, protein (usually italian tuna or grilled fish), a touch of goat or feta cheese, dried figs or cherries and of course avocado. But, now that summer's here, I love to grill fruit and add it to my salad.
Grilled fruit?!!? If you have never tried it, you are missing out! When you grill fruit the sweetness is not to be believed!
Here are some tips to grill your favorite fruit:
Fruit should be firm and barely ripe. If it’s too ripe, it will fall apart on the grill.
Tropical fruits (pineapple, mango) stone fruits (peaches, plums, apricots, apples, pears) and melons (watermelon) are all great choices for grilling.
When grilling plain, brush the fruit with a light coating of oil. This helps keep it from sticking to the grill. Coconut oil is highly recommended. You can also soak your fruit in a marinade before grilling. Liquors play off of the juice really well. A simple marinade for pineapple: ½ cup dark rum, ½ cup fresh orange juice, juice of 1 lime, 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon. Soak thick slices of pineapple in the marinade for 2-3 hours before grilling. Vodka and maple syrup with lime also works well with most fruit.
When grilling, cut the fruit into thick slices, especially for pineapple, mango, and watermelon. Otherwise, you’ll generally just want to halve – or you can cube your fruit and skewer for fun fruit kabobs.
Place fruits directly over a moderately hot grill. Rotate or move them to cooler parts of the grill during cooking as necessary to keep from burning the outside.
Add any fruit to your salad or simply as your dessert. Did anyone ever get fat by eating grilled fruit? It’s’ so much better for you than cookies or cakes or pies!