I am not the biggest fruit lover in the world. I think it’s because sweet food has never been my favorite. But I know what you are thinking. Fruit is good for you and you need several servings a day. I know! I too read all the press about healthy eating. But I just can’t make myself wake up in the morning yearning for my first piece of fruit! Actually that’s not quite true. There is one fruit I always wake up thinking about, and that is the seed of the coffee plant. And yes, coffee seeds or pits (incorrectly named as beans because of their resemblance to the true beans that grow in long pods on certain leguminous plants) grow inside the round red or purple cherry fruit of tropical evergreen shrubs. So I guess if I were to press the point to the ridiculous, which is how I seem to be hard-wired to do anyway, each morning when I consume a cup of processed (to free the seeds from the cherry), roasted (to enhance the flavors locked inside) finely ground and brewed coffee, I am getting my first serving of fruit for the day! I can live with that. And another thing I can live with in the morning, or for lunch or dinner, is this fruit salad. I don’t know why, but fruit that has been cut up tastes better to me. And then when you add a simple dressing which further enhances the flavor of the fruit, even I become a devoted fan. There’s hope for the old gal yet! Speaking of hope, I hope you enjoy the new Easter recipes I will be posting the rest of this week and the ones that are already on my blog under Easter Dinner Recipes. I’m especially fond of the Deviled Eggs recipe. And really, after your children have hunt for and found the colored hard boiled eggs lovingly placed in your yard awaiting their discovery, what else are you going to do with them? Your kids are never going to want them all for themselves. After all, they’re children. And what child is going to choose a rabbit egg (that’s just wrong to begin with) over a chocolate egg or a marshmallow peep? (Now peeps are really sick and wrong, yet I know intelligent men like my dear friends Nich and Steve who actually horde them!) With your children’s permission of course, don’t delay turning those dyed eggs into Deviled Eggs. I say don’t delay, because you truly don’t want them to go bad hidden in the back of a child’s closet. (Trust me on this one. I have first-hand knowledge of organic items being hidden in a closet.)

• 2 T. fresh lime juice (don’t even think about using that stuff that comes in a cute little plastic lime look-alike container)
• 2 T. honey
• ¼ c. vanilla yogurt
• ¼ tsp. poppy seeds
• 1 tart apple, cored and cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 oranges, peeled and sections cut in two
• 2 c. red or green seedless grapes
• 2 kiwi peeled, cut in half and each half cut into half-moon shaped pieces
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint, opt.

Combine lime juice, honey, vanilla yogurt, and poppy seeds in the bottom of a pretty bowl. (Glass is nice if you have one.) Add the fruit and stir gently. Garnish with sprigs of mint. Serve immediately. Note: the dressing can be made ahead or time, but don’t add the fruit until you are ready to serve. You can use any combination of fruit you like. With the amount of dressing this recipe makes, about 7-8 cups of fruit is just about right. You don’t want a soggy salad. Also, I use no more than 5 different kinds of fruit when I make fruit salad.  I think if the salad contains more than five varieties your mouth can’t fully appreciate the unique qualities of each.