Magic salad step-by-step

Magic salad step-by-step

• 5.07.2012

I've talked before about my limited diet, and I don't often share recipes or food posts because a lot of what I eat is sort of specialized.  But, I'm really excited about this fruit salad my friend and I made up a while back... hence the name "magic salad"!  It's soooo good and so simple; it's like magic!

The story is, my good friend and I have always loved to make food together, since our college days of Winco brand cake mix cookies and college apartment-made eggplant Parmesan.  And even now, with my limited diet, we're able to make preparing meals together fun!  Even if it's just a creative green salad with all kinds of things in it... we're always creative (this has resulted in some failed improvised cookie projects over the years, but I'll spare you the details).

Anyway, one time we were hanging out and decided that, for dinner, all we really wanted was a fruit salad.  But we didn't have a whole lot of fruit to choose from.  I think we went to the expensive grocery store down the street but didn't really find much that was an acceptable price, so found ourselves with the super basic kitchen fruit staples: apples, oranges, and bananas.  But we tried to make it fun!  With that adventurous and experimental cooking attitude, we threw in whatever accents sounded good and we had on hand... coconut, which is pretty normal for fruit salad, but also slivered almonds and some spices!

The result was AMAZING.  We loved it.  So now, I want to share this "magic salad" concept with you!  You can make it for cheap and easily at home with items you probably already have.  I can't really call it a recipe, as with my Thai peanut sauce, because I don't measure anything.  But, there are step-by-step photos and ideas for additions!  Have fun!

• Start with your basic, essential magic ingredients: 
• 2 apples
• 2 oranges
• 1 banana
• Some unsweetened big flake coconut
• Slivered almonds
• Vanilla (use the real stuff please, not the imitation...)
• Cinnamon!

My favorite optional enhancements are pineapple and/or mango.  But of course just about any fruit would be good!  ALSO optional: lemon juice, if you're worried about the apples changing color.  I think the orange helps them stay fresh-looking, but then again I always eat it up in a day or two, so I don't really know what happens longer-term. =)

• Peel and chop orange into little pieces...

• Chop apple...

• (Optional) add pineapple, mango, strawberry, whatever you want!!  Note that I don't add the banana yet!!

• Add cinnamon.  I don't know how much.  Sprinkle it all over the fruit.

• Add vanilla.  About twice as much as I'm holding in the spoon.  I think it's about 1-2 teaspoons?  But I really don't know.

• Add about a handful of delicious undsweetened wide coconut flakes.  I got these in the bulk foods section of Whole Foods--they don't weigh much so don't end up being too expensive.

• Add a handful of slivered almonds (mine are from the bulk foods section of Winco. $3.84/lb. Love them!).  I actually added quite a few more after I took this pic.

• Toss!

• Now, chop the banana.  Unless you're making this a few days ahead of time--chop the banana shortly before you serve it, because they will turn brown and a little soft.

• Toss gently, not squishing the banana.
• Done!!!

• Devour.

It's soooo simple and uses stuff you have around, but soooo good!  Like magic!