Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Make Vegan Fruit Salad

If you think of fruit salad as something that comes in a little plastic cup, think again! Served with sweet, creamy tofu dressing and light, crunchy almonds, this vegan fruit salad makes a surprisingly substantial meal. It's best made with fresh, seasonal fruit so you can eat it all year round without getting bored.


Instructions








Bananas


1. Start with a banana. Most people aren't passionate about banana, but it is one of the secret ingredients of this salad. It provides a filling base, and blends well with the stronger flavors of the other fruits. Chop one or two bananas per person into bite sized chunks.


2. Add other seasonal fruits. Summer fruits, such as melon and perfectly ripe berries, are probably the most dramatic, but you can make a perfectly serviceable salad out of apples and pears, too. Just try to mix up different flavors, colors and textures, picking the ripest fruit you can find, and cut out any bad spots (plus cores and seeds, of course). Chop this fruit into chunks, too.


3. Put the silken tofu in the blender with a little vegan sugar or other sweetener, a dash of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth, then taste. Adjust the sweetener, vanilla and salt to taste.








4. Arrange the fruit. If you're in a hurry, of course you can just mix the fruit together in a big bowl and dish it out (and it will still taste just as good). If you have the time and inclination, you can arrange the salads artistically on individual plates, which is probably more fun.


5. Serve with the creamy tofu dressing and slivered almonds to sprinkle on top.

Tags: creamy tofu, creamy tofu dressing, fruit salad, tofu dressing