Have a Cupcake: Birthday Celebration Honey Lime Dressing

If you’ve been following along this week, you know that I planned and executed a cupcake-themed mini birthday party for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law last week and am detailing the results here. Yesterday, I told you about the main dish, Crunchy Chicken Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette, and today I will tell you about one of the side dishes, Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing.

You can’t beat a light and citrusy fruit salad for spring entertaining: it’s light and refreshing and reminds one of beautiful green and bright spring days. It was the perfect accompaniment to the aforementioned chicken salad and rounded out the luncheon perfectly (together with parmesan crisps and crudites).

I have to admit I jumped at the chance to make a fruit salad dressing. You see, my DH is kind of a little… resistant… when I get to tampering with his food. Plain and simple is the way he likes it. That means fruit salad is made of fruit and nothing else. Me, on the other hand, I get bored out of my mind fixing something the same way every time, all the time. I mean really, where’s the fun in that?! We compromise by me almost always making the fruit salad plain (although he’s OK with the occasional twist, like my Harvest Fruit Salad or Stone Fruit Salad) when it’s just us, but exercising my creative juices when we entertain.

Well… perhaps not all that creative: honey and lime isn’t exactly a ground-breaking combination. It is, however, delicious and easy and perfect for almost any fruit combination. I used a combination of apples, pears, bananas and grapes, which is what I had. Pineapples or mandarin/orange segments would add a pleasant tang, and dried cranberries or pomegranate seeds would add color and texture. Kiwi or honeydew melon would be tasty additions that also add another layer of color. A little shaved or shredded coconut is always welcome in a fruit salad, too.

Fruit salad is a super QUICK side dish any day, and using a dressing like this ratchets it up a notch when you have company without adding a great deal of extra time.

It’s very EASY, too! A tip to make squeezing the lime even easier: microwave it for 10-15 seconds, then roll it under the palm of your hand on the counter, applying pressure until you feel it become more flexible. Slice in half and squeeze out all the juice! Another tip: get the zest before squeezing out the juice.

It’s pretty CHEAP, although neither (healthy) honey nor lime are exactly inexpensive. One lime is not likely to break the bank, though, usually costing well under $1.00. If you’re lucky enough to live in citrus-growing land, then the cost is practically nothing!

It’s a very HEALTHY recipe, especially if you use the right honey: raw organic honey. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s and use it only for fresh (not cooked) recipes like this. If it’s cooked, the advantage of being raw and unprocessed is negated, so I just buy regular organic honey (also from Trader Joe’s) for any baking or cooking I do with honey. Read this really old -but useful- post for more information about raw honey.