5 nutritious and surprising fruit salads

Some mornings, and especially in the warm months, we feel like light and refreshing desserts prepared with fruits. We can make them throughout the year but the advantage in summer is that there is a wide variety of fresh fruits in season, such as watermelon, melon, peaches, berries, cherries, apricots… There is something for all tastes.

The easiest, most refreshing and healthiest dessert is perhaps the fruit salad: we can prepare this fruit salad in a couple of minutes and customize it according to our tastes.

How to make fruit salad

Macedonia is a fruit salad cut into pieces, prepared with fresh fruit or in syrup and flavored with natural juices such as lemon or orange juice, syrup and, if we want, fresh herbs such as lemon balm or mint.

We can add to our fruit salad even a small amount of natural sweeteners, such as maple syrup, stevia or honey if we have a sweet tooth. It also can add a little yogurt, ice cream or some dried fruit for a crunchy touch. There are thousands of possibilities.

Here you have five very original fruit salad recipes, one for every occasion:

1. Macedonia with quinoa for breakfast

Preparation: 20 minutes – Cooking: 15 minutes

Especially when the weather is good, they feel like fresh breakfasts with abundant fruit. To fill us up for longer we can add quinoa, a pseudocereal rich in protein and complete carbohydrates and a handful of pistachios.

This Macedonian recipe is a surprising combination and delicious.

Ingredients (4 servings):

For the quinoa

0.75 cups of red quinoa 1.5 cups of water a pinch of salt

What fruit to include:

1 mango250 g blueberries200 g strawberries2 kiwis2 bananas

For the vinaigrette:

4 tablespoons mint 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup from 1 lemon a handful of toasted pistachios to serve (optional)

Preparation:

Wash the quinoa in water. Place the quinoa in a pot, add the water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat and cook until the water evaporates, about 15-20 minutes. Mix with a fork and let cool. Prepare the fruit. Peel the banana and cut into slices. Peel and cut the mango and kiwis into pieces. Cut the strawberries in half. In a bowl, mix the cooled quinoa with the fruit. Prepare the vinaigrette. Chop the mint, add the lemon juice and honey or syrup, mix well and add to the salad. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Serve right away or let cool for a couple of hours.

2. Protein salad for after training

Preparation: 10 minutes

after a workout It is advisable to eat snacks rich in sugars (to replenish the glycogen used during exercise) and rich in protein (to repair tissues and thus improve recovery).

On the other hand, the antioxidant-rich fruit like forest fruits helps inhibit inflammation and speeds up recovery even more. When it’s hot, in addition, a combination of fresh fruit rich in vitamins and minerals is ideal.

This Macedonian recipe we can prepare it in advance and leave it in the fridge for when we get back from training.

Ingredient (2 servings):

2 bananas 200 g blackberries 2 oranges 250 g Greek-style soy yogurt 2 tablespoons cashew butter 2 tablespoons cane syrup 2 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds

Preparation:

Peel the banana and cut it into pieces. Grate the skin of half an orange and save it. Peel and cut the oranges. In a bowl, mix the banana with the oranges and blackberries. In another bowl, mix the yogurt with cane honey, the orange zest and the cashew nut cream and mix with the fruit. Before serving, sprinkle with the chopped almonds.

3. Fruit salad to balance hormones

Preparation: 15 minutes

For people with hormonal imbalances, such as an estrogen predominance, adrenal fatigue or endocrine disorders such as hypothyroidism or diabetes, it is advisable to wear a diet low in carbohydrates and sugars. But it is not necessary to give up a good fruit salad.

Simply choose the fruit that is lowest in sugar, such as berries or apricots, and the We accompany with some protein-rich food and fat to improve insulin resistance and slow down digestion.

In this salad recipe, we use creamed tofu as a source of protein and avocado and coconut to provide good fats, necessary to synthesize hormones in the body. We also add almonds, since almonds help balance hormones.

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 apricots2 kiwis200 g strawberries200 g blueberries200 g raspberries2 avocados2 tablespoons toasted almonds

For the tofu cream:

200 g of silky tofu or orange zest 4 tablespoons of orange juice a couple of drops of stevia or 2 tablespoons of erythritol 2 tablespoons of coconut butter

Preparation:

Cut the apricots in half, remove the stone and cut into pieces. Peel the kiwis and cut them into pieces. Cut the avocados, remove the stone and carefully dice them. Cut the strawberries. In a bowl, mix all the fruit. In a food processor, puree all the ingredients for the tofu cream. Try the flavor. Serve the fruit salad with the fruit cream and a couple of toasted almonds on top.

If we want to accompany it with a chocolate cream, we can mix the beaten tofu with 50 g of melted sugar-free chocolate.

4. Fruit salad to take to the picnic

Preparation: 20 minutes

For those days with good weather when we feel like eating outdoors, with family or friends, fruit salad is an ideal dessert, and above all very practical to take to any meeting. This one is liked by everyone.

Ingredients (8 servings):

250 g white seedless grapes 1 pineapple 4 pears 1/2 small watermelon 400 g blueberries 4 peaches

For the syrup:

4 oranges half a lemon 3 tablespoons maple syrup (optional) a pinch of cinnamon

Preparation:

Wash the fruits well. Peel the pineapple. Chop all the fruit and mix in a large tupperware container. Squeeze the juice from the oranges and the lemon. In a bowl, mix the juice with the syrup and cinnamon. Mix with the fruit and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours until you take it to the picnic.

5. Rainbow fruit salad for the little ones

Preparation: 15 minutes – Freezing: 2 hours

This salad is ready with a surprise: ice cream. But since we are talking about fruit desserts, it is not just any ice cream, but ice cream made only with bananas. Sure, the little ones will love it.

To prepare this Macedonian recipe, we can choose the fruit that you like the most. Here we choose fruit of all colors to make rainbows.

Ingredients (4 servings):

For the banana ice cream:

2 large very ripe bananas 2-4 tablespoons of vegetable drink

For the Macedonian:

2 kiwis1 apple200 g raspberries200 g cherries1 nectarine1 peach100 g blueberries100 g black grapes

Preparation:

First you have to freeze bananas to make ice cream. Choose some very ripe bananas. Peel them, cut them into slices, place in a tupperware or bag and freeze for at least 4 hours.Prepare the fruit salad. Peel and cut the fruit into pieces. Divide the fruit among 4 small plates into strips to form a rainbow.Prepare the banana ice cream. Blend the frozen bananas with vegetable drink until you get a smooth cream. Divide on plates to make a cloud and serve immediately.

If you don’t have a powerful blender, Take the banana out of the freezer about 10 minutes before mashing it to soften it up a bit. You can also make the ice cream and refreeze until serving time.