Banana-Fruit Salad with Walnut Cream

My mother had absolutely no interest in cooking - zip! The kitchen tool she used most was a can opener. When she wasn’t caressing the keyboard to play Chopin, she pounded a mean boogie-woogie on the piano - all day, every day. Each of us has different passions, talents, interests, and skills! 

My mother’s idea of a great dessert was to open a can of fruit cocktail. What I remember best about that product was that the label showed a beautiful bowl of cubed fruit studded with bright red cherries. As anyone who ate this stuff back then will know, the can contained one cherry. All six kids in our family trolled for that cherry (By contrast, no one wanted the single chunk of glutinous fat that passed for “pork” in the then-named “Pork and Beans.” Today, the product is more accurately labelled “Beans with Pork”).

Include fresh fruit in your daily
diet: No recipe needed!

The Fruit Salad combo to your left contains ample cherries! It’s winter in the Time Zone and at the Latitude Where I Live. There are no fresh cherries or peaches available just yet, so I used fruit canned in a thin sugar syrup. Thanks to globalization, there are plenty of bananas, pears, apples, and oranges available in local shops and fruit stands. 

Anyone can make a basic Fruit Salad - there’s really no “recipe” for the low-calorie version - but I’m publishing a photo of a fruit salad I made yesterday as a reminder to include several servings of fruit (and vegetables, Dollinks!) in your daily diets. Fresh fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, keeping you healthier longer. 

For those of you who may be craving a fancier, gussied-up array of fruit, this recipe for Banana-Fruit Salad with Walnut Cream is one of my favorites, served as a salad or a dessert. While I normally make this in warmer weather, this early taste of summer is delectable!

Banana-Fruit Salad with Walnut Cream:

3 bananas, peeled and sliced on the diagonal

2 c. fresh orange sections, rind grated and reserved for dressing

2 unpeeled Granny Smith apples, cored and cubed

Gently combine above ingredients. Serve with Walnut Cream on the side. Makes 4-to-6 servings.

Walnut Cream:

1 c. (250 mL) heavy cream

¾ c. (180 mL) toasted ground walnuts (see How to Toast Nuts in Index)

2 tbsp. (30 mL) granulated sugar

1 tsp. (5 mL) grated orange rind

Whip cream as soft peaks. Fold in walnuts, sugar, and grated rind. Makes 2 cups.