Every time I make this fruit salad, as simple as it is, someone asks me what I did to it to make it so tasty.  Usually, when I find something tasty it has a lot of butter, sugar, heavy cream or bacon in it.  The beauty of some delicious cooking however, lie in the ingredients themselves and making them shine.

The fruit that I picked for my fruit salad is not all in season right now.  However, I tried to pick the most ripe and beautiful smelling fruit I could get my hands on and find that doing so makes this especially wonderful.  Of course, any fruit that you use that’s in season will bring this over the top!

How can you tell if a pineapple is ripe?  First, look at it.  If it is yellowish in color, you’ve got a winner.  A greenish looking pineapple is not ripe and will not ripen anymore than it is, once picked.  Secondly, smell it.  If it smells like a delicious pineapple, it is!  Thirdly, hold the one you like in one hand and a greenish one in the other.  The one that is ripe will feel heavier.

cut off the top…

stand it up on its bottom…

cut off the sides, all 4…

till you’re left with this rectangle.  See the faint circle in the middle of the top?  That’s the core and you will want to stay away from that as you chop the pineapple.  The core is very tough and fibrous and not much fun to eat.  You don’t want it to be part of your glorious salad!  Cut about 1/2 inch or so away from the core…

and chop…

You’ll fill the bottom of your bowl with the juicy pineapple. Yum!

Next you’ll need a navel orange.

Slice it in half.

Squeeze the juice of each half right on top of the pineapple.

You’ll need 2 bananas (these are perfect!)…

sliced…

and added right into the bowl with the pineapple.

These glorious fruits are so vibrant in color and flavor that I love to add them to my fruit salads.  Peeled and…

chopped.

Then the blueberries, rinsed.  Oooooo the color!  Can you get over the fact that there is a food out there that is naturally blue?!

Speaking of color…it is the Christmas season after all!  Hulled, rinsed, and sliced strawberries.

Look how beautiful it is!  Don’t you just want to eat it now?  Not yet….you’ll be missing out….

Here it is.  What sends this fruit salad over the edge.  Honey.  This amazing, golden nectar of the gods. Nature’s sweetener.

Drizzle all over the top of the salad.  Combine, gently.

Bon Appétit, Ma Chérie!