FRUIT SALAD TIPS AND TRICKS 

• Use ripe, SWEET fruit – especially pineapple and oranges. If your pineapple and oranges are bitter, your salad will be bitter.  If they are ripe but could be sweeter, you might want to add a little more honey to your dressing.
• Chill your fruit – chopped or whole – for at least 2 hours. Chilled fruit is everything in a fruit salad!  You don’t need to chop your fruit 2 hours in advance, but at least place your whole fruit in the refrigerator.  No one likes luke-warm fruit salad
• Aside from the bananas, this fruit salad doesn’t contain any fruit that will turn brown. If you want to include apples or pears, however, you don’t need to worry about them turning brown because the dressing has lime in it which will keep them browning.  If you wanted to chop your apples and pears in advance, however, toss them with a little of the dressing OR toss them with pineapple juice.  You can also use canned or bottled lime or lemon juice, but I prefer pineapple juice because it is far less tart.
• I prefer blueberries to both blackberries and raspberries because they hold their shape and make great leftovers. If you want to use blackberries or raspberries, I prefer blackberries because they hold their shape better.  They are also best the day of and don’t make great leftovers.
• Mandarin oranges are a class of orange of which contains both tangerines and clementines.  We want clementines in our fruit salad as they are seedless and super easy to peel.
• I don’t recommend canned mandarin oranges because they tend to fall apart easily when tossed. If you loooove them though, then feel free to use them.  I would suggest refrigerating your canned mandarin oranges first so they tasted refreshingly chilled.
• Slice your bananas on the thicker side, that way they don’t get mushy. Choose bananas that are ripe but not soft.  I looooove bananas in my fruit salads and want them in every bite, so if you aren’t sure you want bananas in your fruit salad – try it!
• This fruit salad tastes best chilled, so I would allow at least 30 minutes for it to chill with the dressing in the refrigerator and don’t let it sit out at room temperature more than 2 hours.
• If storing leftovers of this fruit salad, remove the bananas and store in an airtight container. This salad stores well for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.

HOW TO MAKE AHEAD OF TIME

• The most time consuming part of a fruit salad is chopping the fruit BUT this can be done whenever you have time. With the exception of the bananas, you can chop all of your fruit a couple in advance and store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator.  You can also peel and segment your oranges and store them in airtight containers/bags in the refrigerator.
• Next, whisk your Honey Citrus Dressing ingredients together in a separate bowls and refrigerate separately.  When ready to serve, let your dressing sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so until pourable. Drain any excess liquid from the fruit, add Dressing and evenly toss with fruit.
• The fruit salad is best if allowed to chill at least 30 minutes after you add the dressing then served within 2 hours.

Fruit Salad Leftovers

• If storing leftovers of this fruit salad, remove the bananas and store in an airtight container. This salad stores well for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. The longer it sits, the softer the berries will get.
• I like to add freshly sliced bananas to my new servings of fruit salad.
• Juices will accumulate from the fruit the longer it sits in the refrigerator. Toss the fruit in the juices then you can use a slotted spoon if you prefer to serve your fruit.
• I love adding granola to my fruit salad and eating it for breakfast! I actually had a chocolate granola on hand I added to it the fruit salad the next day and it was incredible.
• Leftover fruit salad is also is delicious with vanilla yogurt and/or granola – mmm!
• Whenever I can’t use fruit in time, I freeze it later for smoothies. For this fruit salad, divide any leftovers into individual sandwich bags, seal and freeze for later.  Combine with vanilla yogurt, ice/or frozen banana, orange juice and sugar to taste.
• You can also create an immediate slushy by adding your leftover fruit salad to your blender along with ice and some honey or sugar.
• You can even make popsicles! Puree the fruit salad, add honey/sugar if desired to taste and pour into popsicle molds