This fruit salad stands apart due to the exotic fruits—dragon fruit, rambutan, red banana, starfruit—and bubble-gum-pink yogurt sauce that kids will love. Of course it’s gluten-free, vegan, and free of any added sugar or artificial colors.
Frieda’s Produce sent me an assortment of their Southeast Asian fruits, so I did a twist on my favorite fruit salad, which is simply a traditional assortment of fruits topped with plain yogurt blended with lime juice, vanilla, and honey. I’ll be doing a post on Thursday introducing each fruit I used.
Today’s post is part of our mission to help you rebuild your health through food and lifestyle choices. Look for posts on Mondays featuring gluten-free, sugar-free recipes made with healthy plant-based ingredients, Tuesday reviews, Wednesday essays, Thursday how-to’s, and Flashback Fridays recipe posts plus monthly giveaways on the last Friday of the month. We support Meatless Monday.
Exotic fruit salad
Ingredients
- 2 starfruits
- 2 dragon fruits
- 12 rambutan
- 3 bananas red bananas, if available
- 4 prickly pear fruits
- 3/4 cup yogurt vanilla coconut
- 1 limes juiced
Instructions
- Prep the fruit and add to your serving bowl:
- Wash the starfruit (carambola) and thinly slice crosswise. Remove seeds from each slice. You eat the rind, which is a little tart but adds texture.
- Use a paring knife to remove all the bright pink rind from the dragon fruit. Slice the white speckled interior crosswise.
- Use a paring knife to remove the hairy outer shells from each rambutan. Slice in half lengthwise, stopping at the center pit. Gently pop the white flesh off the center pit, as if you are unmolding it. The center pit looks like a large almond. It will leave a thin coating of skin attached to the rambutan flesh, which is fine.
- Peel and slice the red bananas and toss with a little of the lime juice to prevent browning.
- Use tongs to handle the prickly pears, and hold each over an open flame to burn off any of the tiny spines called glochids. Peel each prickly pear and juice them (methods listed from easiest to most work):
- Run through a juicer.
- Run through a food mill.
- Pulse a few times in a food processor or blender, then press the flesh through a mesh strainer with a spoon.
- Whisk the rest of the lime juice with the yogurt, then whisk in just enough juice to your taste. Too much and it will be overly sweet. The lime juice and tang from the yogurt should balance out the sweetness of the prickly pear. Use extra prickly pear juice to sweeten kale smoothies or juiced greens.
- Serve with the sauce on the side, or all tossed together.
Notes
- 253 calories
- 6 g fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 42 mg sodium
- 394 mg potassium
- 47 g carbohydrate
- 4 g fiber
- 18 g sugars
- 6 g protein
- 7 Weight Watchers Points Plus
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I love trying new fruits, veggies and grains. I’ve never had or heard of rambutan or red banana’s, so I’ll have to keep an eye open for those. I always look forward to what you’re cooking up next! Thanks for sharing and thanks for hosting this blog hop.
Mindy
It All Begins with Dirt
Thanks Mindy! You didn’t used to find rambutan here in the States, but now it’s sometimes available. I’d look in an Asian market if you have one.
That’s gorgeous!
Thanks Adair. I thought the sauce brought back in the vibrant color of the dragon fruit.
that looks delicious!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Sandra.
I have to admit, I have never bought starfruit, mostly because I have no idea how to eat it!! Do you eat the skin? Do you leave the rind behind, like you would an orange? This salad looks sooo tasty, though! Thanks for hosting the blog hop!
You eat all of it, just remove the small seeds after you slice it.
This looks so delicious, like candy! I very rarely eat exotic fruits like those (they travel from quite far to get to NY…), but would love to add some more to my repertoire. I always seem to get the same thing and not try something new and exotic. You just inspired me to buy more exotic fruit on my next trip to the grocery store!
Have a great week!
Katness, I agree that I don’t tend to buy these because they are imported. But once in a while, it’s fun to splurge a little.
What a pretty salad! We have a few dragon fruit plants…amazing how many different colors and even different flavors can be possible. Some have very little taste but gorgeous color. Some are sweeter. Fun to combine with other exotic fruits!
Thanks Mimi. I confess I was always intimidated by these, which is why I was excited to get to play with them. I have only seen dragon fruit on Chopped!