Peach Berry Summer Fruit Salad

I have to get something off my chest: I loathe melons.

Watermelon and honeydew. Gross. I’d rather eat a handful of rocks than those two fruits. And don’t even get me started on cantaloupe; that stuff was truly sent to earth by the devil. Cantaloupe has always been on my relatively short ‘Do Not Eat’ list. Some things, like onions, pot roast, and potato salad have made their way off that list since my tastes have changed while moving into adulthood. But not cantaloupe. No sir. I will NOT eat cantaloupe.

So my curiosity got the better of me at the grocery store the other day. I knew I wanted to make a fruit salad with all the best summer fruits, and was hovering around the mangoes and other strange import fruits (like dragonfruit, jackfruit, etc) when I spotted the strangest thing I have ever seen at my grocery store: a pepito melon.

It was white with purple stripes, oval-shaped, and about the size of my palm. It kind of looked like a smoother, longer turnip. Even with my pure, unadulterated hatred for melons, I grabbed one to try it out in my fruit salad.

I have to say, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t my favorite thing in the fruit salad, but it wasn’t the worst either. The pepito melon was really sweet—almost like a cross between a mango and honey dew. A few bites was good enough for me, and that’s just about how much came out of the one fruit. Perfection.

I went for all the typical summer fare for the rest of the salad, with a few strange things mixed in. White peaches and nectarines had already hit the shelves, so I went for those along with strawberries, blackberries, and two small mangoes. I mixed in some toasted coconut and basil to kick it up a notch and used my normal lime juice-and0-honey syrup to bring it all together.

This fruit salad is really refreshing, and the ultimate bite of summer. Even with the melon, I was smitten at first bite. This is the best side dish to whip together for any Memorial Day weekend festivities you might have!

Peach Berry Summer Fruit Salad

• Servings: 8-10
• Time: 10 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A sweet and tangy fruit salad made with summer's bounty, with a simple lime & honey syrup.

Ingredients

• 2 peaches, sliced (skins left on or off, your preference)
• 2 nectarines, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 cups strawberries, chopped
• 1 cup blackberries
• 1-2 mangoes, diced
• 1 pepito melon, peeled and diced (or substitute 1 cup honeydew melon)
• 1/2 cup toasted coconut
• 2 TBS. fresh basil, chopped
• 3 TBS. honey
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together peaches, nectarines, blackberries, strawberries, blackberries, mangoes, melon and coconut.
2. In a small bowl stir together lime juice, honey, and basil. Pour over fruit and stir until well coated. Refrigerate until serving.

Step-By-Step Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together peaches, nectarines, blackberries, strawberries, blackberries, mangoes, melon and coconut.

In a small bowl stir together lime juice, honey, and basil. Pour over fruit and stir until well coated. Refrigerate until serving.