For all the fruit slackers (including me) out there
For all the fruit slackers (including me) out there
If you're not eating enough cool weather fruit, here's some inspiration
I’ve never met a vegetable I don’t like (with the possible exception of okra). It’s not that I don’t like fruits; they just don’t speak to me like the array of vegetables with their endless possibilities.
Still, fruits should have a regular place in a plant-forward diet, even if they can’t compete with vegetables for sheer variety and versatility.
It’s easy to enjoy fruit in the summer when there’s a plethora of berries, stone fruits, and melons. But when the weather turns cooler, there are weeks when I might get through one apple or a few grapes.
Being a fruit slacker, I want to boost my intake, and I need to reminders to eat more in the cooler months. Sometimes we all need bursts of inspiration even more than specific recipes, and I hope you find the following ideas useful. If you have other favorite ways to enjoy cool-weather fruits, please leave a comment!
Use organic as much as possible: Fruits, as with vegetables, are best consumed in organic form whenever possible. Some fruits are safer than others if you must buy non-organic.
Strawberries, for example, nearly always top the Environmental Working Group's annual list of produce that contains the most pesticide. As for fall-winter fruits, You’ll see that on this year’s list, apples, pears, and grapes made it onto the list of the Dirty Dozen™️.
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Cool-Weather Ideas For Enjoying Fruit
Add fruits to green salads
Adding small amounts of fruit to otherwise simple green salads is downright delicious. Consider the addition of crisp diced apple or pear to mixed green salads instead of blah winter tomatoes. Apples are a good addition to coleslaw. Small orange sections make a great addition to winter salads (see above), as do pineapple and grapes. Also, try these:
Arugula and Apple Waldorf-Style Salad (with Grapes)
Serve fruit as a side dish or in a salsa
In some ethnic cuisines, fruit is served with the main part of the meal, as well as after it. Think of fruity chutneys in Indian cuisines, mango salsa, or the pineapple-cucumber salsa shown above.
In addion, fruits add a refreshing note and a surprising flavor note when simply cut up and served with savory fare. For example, sliced oranges or pineapple served with Asian-style fare or spicy dishes.
Enjoy an easy ambrosia
Orange and pineapple ambrosia is just one tasty example. This fruit combo can be enjoyed when there’s a dearth of other fruits. Combine 2 cups or so of pineapple chunks (fresh or canned, drained) with 3 or 4 small oranges (peeled and sectioned).
Toss with a few dried cranberries or raisins. If you want to make this more like a dessert, or even breakfast, stir in a small container of vanilla coconut yogurt and top with a few toasted almonds or a handful of granola. This makes about 4 servings.
Add a chocolate drizzle to pears
Allow one firm, ripe pear per person. If small, peel and leave whole. For larger pears, peel, cut into quarters lengthwise, and core. Heat a little unsweetened fruit juice in a medium saucepan. Steam the pears over medium heat, covered, until they become a little more tender, about 10 to 12 minutes for whole pears, 5 to 7 minutes for quartered pears. Add more juice as needed while the pears are steaming.
Transfer the pears to a serving plate, and drizzle with melted chocolate chips. For the very lazy, use organic chocolate syrup. Finish with a sprinkling of toasted sliced almonds.
Sauté apples in a skillet
Use firm sweet or tart apples — your choice! Figure on 1 apple per serving; most medium skillets will comfortably hold 4 or so. Peel the apples, then quarter and seed them. Cut each quarter into three or so slices. Heat enough apple juice to coat the bottom of a medium nonstick skillet.
Steam the apple slices over medium heat until just tender, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you started with tart apples, stir in maple syrup or agave to taste. Sprinkle with cinnamon and remove from the heat.
Let cool until just warm or room temperature and serve straight from the skillet or transfer to a serving container. Serve as is or with a dollop of plant-based vanilla yogurt or ice cream. Garnish with a sprinkling of granola, if you’d like. You can also use this as a side dish with savory fare.
Make Pretty Fruity Parfaits
Parfaits might look fancy, but they’re so simple that a formal recipe is really not required! Layering plant-based yogurt with seasonal fruits takes almost no effort, creating a treat that looks as appealing as it tastes. Yes, the photo shows a summery parfait, but we’ll get to the rest soon.
For each serving, use a 6 to 8 ounces vanilla, lemon, or pineapple plant-based yogurt (coconut, cashew, almond, etc.) and 1/2 to 1 cup fruit. See suggestions following. Use medium-sized glass tumblers. layer half of the yogurt, then half of the fruit in glass; repeat each layer.
For a breakfast parfait, top with a little granola; if it’s more of a dessert, top with vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips and/or toasted sliced almonds. To make it even more of a dessert, use vanilla nondairy ice cream instead of yogurt. Here are a few ideas for fruits to use, and to combine:
For cooler months: Sliced banana and frozen (thawed) berries; fresh or canned finely chopped pineapple with dried cranberries; finely diced apple and/or pear with sliced dried dates.
For warmer months: Sliced strawberries with blueberries as shown above (remember this for next summer!); sliced peaches or nectarines with any type of berry.
If you'd like a more specific recipe, see Easy Vegan Fruit Parfaits.
Try some exotic fruit
Explore this roundup to discover 12 unusual and exotic fruits you need to try at least once in your lifetime! It’s an introduction to Buddha's hand, dragonfruit, cherimoya and more.
Some of them may not taste like the familiar apples, bananas, and oranges that we’re used to, but they’re worth seeking if you like variety. I bought some rambutan at an Indian supermarket that I passed on an out-of-town road trip, and my gosh — this weird looking fruit (that’s kind of like lychee) is the most delicious fruit I’ve ever tasted.
Fruit Smoothies
I’ve probably saved the most obvious for last, but smoothies are one of the best fruit delivery systems. Not being one to randomly eat bananas, here’s where I’m most likely to get this potassium-rich fruit. You can incorporate them into green smoothies, as shown above, or combine them with peanut butter and chocolate for an almost dessert-y, high protein shake.
Of course, you don’t have to include bananas in all your fall-winter smoothies. Apples, pears, and pineapple are good cool-weather smoothie fruits, of course. And you can always add organic frozen fruits like berries that are more summery. Here are a few recipes:
Green Smoothie with Banana and Avocado (shown above)
On another subject …
Those of you who have purchased Vegan Soups and Stews for All Seasons (sorry to ask again), can you do me the honor of leaving a review on Amazon? Even if you didn’t purchase it there. I know we don’t all love Amazon but those ratings seem to boost a book’s overall standing in the marketplace. Thank you in advance!