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Enjoying Fruit - But This Time Not The Chocolate-Covered Variety

Photo by LYNN KESSEL

Winter fruits at their peak can be delicious alone, but who can resist mixing and matching your favorites for a sweet-and-spicy ambrosia, like this Mexican fruit salad? The flavors are refreshing and colors vibrant. Top with a splash of lime juice and a dust of ancho chili powder, and enjoy!

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By LYNN KESSEL

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 14, 2009

Updated:

The sweet-tooth fairy left me a longtime seasonal favorite in my stocking this year - chocolate-covered cherries. By New Year's Eve, I had easily polished off the box. Not exactly nourishing, but geez, it was sure fun.

Two hours shy of 2009, I was feeling the effects of a chocolate cordial overdose and staring at a stockpile of stray fruit in the kitchen - remnants of the holidays and gifts of generous citrus-sharing friends. A few of them - the fruit, not friends - were nearing an unattractive level of ripeness.

I get really, really tired of tossing out those last few grapes, oranges and the occasional solitary grapefruit that get jostled to the back of the crisper drawer. What a waste!

Irritated at the thought of having to pitch perfectly good fruit, I turned the discards-to-be into a fresh fruit salad. It was surely a more health-giving choice than the inhaled pound of cherries encased by dark chocolate.

"Ambrosia," as it's sometimes called, is a fruit salad made with citrus. In Roman and Greek mythology, it was the food of the gods and supposedly what made them all immortal. I was only seeking atonement for pigging out on those darn chocolates.

No two recipes for ambrosia are alike. Combinations of fruits don't matter, and neither do precise quantities.

So I took a look in the fridge and grabbed the lingering fruit in the crisper drawer: several oranges, a grapefruit, kiwi, handful of loose grapes and a pint of strawberries. Remembering a chunk of fresh coconut, I pulled it from the freezer.

I woke up the next morning to a delicious ambrosia that I served with turkey-bacon and eggs. I can't think of a better way to start the new year.

I thought you might find these few tidbits about those annoying stickers on fruit interesting.

They are called Price Look-Up numbers, and they not only help the grocery cashier with correct pricing, but they tell you, the customer, how and where the fruit was grown.

Four-digit numbers indicate produce was conventionally grown and could have been sprayed with chemical pesticides or weed killer. Five-digit numbers that begin with No. 9 indicate organic produce. Five-digit numbers that begin with No. 8 indicate genetically modified produce.

If you'd like to learn more, visit the International Federation for Produce Standards at www.plucodes.com.

MEXICAN FRUIT SALAD

Strawberries, hulled and halved

Mango, in chunks

Melon, in chunks

Pineapple, in chunks

Grapefruit, peeled, seeded and sliced

Oranges, peeled, seeded and sliced

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup sugar, optional

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 to 11/2 teaspoon dried ancho chile powder

In a large bowl, combine desired fruit. Add juices, sugar, salt and ancho chile powder to taste; mix well. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Lynn Kessel can be reached at lkessel@mac.com or P.O. Box 913, Ruskin FL 33575-0913. For more of her recipes, visit south shore.tbo.com and enter the search words: Lynn Kessel.

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