Autumn Fruit Salad with Fresh Cranberry Orange Dressing

This jeweled salad is sure to impress with its rainbow of color meaning it's rich in antioxidants, high in fiber and soaring in flavor. A great addition to any holiday dinner or brunch!

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Rarely do we ever associate Autumn and Fall produce with the words fresh. Normally we consume this seasonal produce roasted, steamed, blended into hot soups, or sautéed in oil. But this salad really is fresh and invigorating all thanks to the vibrant array of fresh fruit available in Autumn.

Because we so often want to warm our bodies with hot liquids, a cold or room-temperature salad may not seem appealing but once you catch a whiff of this majesty, you'll change your mind. Forget about cold fingers! The ginger and cinnamon in the dressing spice it up and aid your body's circulation. My tummy felt surprisingly warm after eating this and I couldn't wait to have a second serving with dinner.

The fresh Cranberry Orange Dressing can be doubled and half saved for a green salad. It's very yummy and I plan on making some in the future to have on a big plate of greens (maybe minus the vanilla bean). Feel free to double the spices if you want it spicier!

We keep cranberry extract in our health cabinet throughout the year but you can often find me taking it through these cold months. Cranberry is a natural antibiotic and it helps to prevent urinary tract infections, stomach ulcers, gum disease, heart disease, sinus infection, and hypertension. The berries are high in Vitamin C, antioxidants, and fiber. Also they lend to an incredible looking salad dressing as pictured below.

 

This salad also seems to be just as good the second day. I would not recommend leaving it longer as the fruit will brown and loose texture, flavor and antioxidants.

It was spectacular having this array of fresh fruit on my marble cutting board yesterday morning!

 

 

 

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If you have a mandolin slice like this one, you can slice all the persimmon, apple, and pear horizontally and make a very pretty layered salad.

The directions make the recipe look lengthy but I'm just be thorough in how to cut everything so less mess on your hands. This is actually one of the easiest fruit salads I've prepared.

Autumn Fruit Salad
2 Persimmons
1 Bartlett pear, ripe but not squishy
1 large granny smith apple
1 pomegranate
1/2 cup chopped and lightly toasted hazelnuts, optional
Juice of half lemon

Fresh Cranberry Orange Dressing
1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1 orange, peeled
1/4 tsp ground ginger or 1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, minced (I've used garlic press)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
2 glugs of maple syrup

1. Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender (I used my vitamix).
1. Rip the stem from persimmons by prying fingers under the leaves (if ripe they will pop off very nicely). Cut into quarters and slice those in half.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cup water and the lemon juice in a medium size bowl. Core, slice and then chop segments of the pear and apple and put in lemon water to prevent browning.
3. Slice pomegranate in half. Take a large bowl and hold your pomegranate cut-side-down in your hand over the bowl. Take a wooden spoon and whack the pomegranate so seeds will fall into the bowl. This is pretty mess-free and easy way of removing the seeds compared to other ways. You may need to peel back a little bit of the skin to remove all of them but not much.
4. Layer everything in a short bowl (or glass pie plate as I've used). Top with dressing and hazelnuts. Serve!

Find me and this recipe on pinterest.

I've really enjoyed this salad and I hope you do too, my sweet readers! Great with a cup of tea and a good conversation!