Fresh Berry Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Does lemon juice keep fruit salad fresh? ›

To prevent the effects of oxidation, fruit needs citric acid, and lemons are full of it. As a natural antioxidant, lemon juice can help prolong the life of fruit salad (as well as its visual appeal) by inactivating the enzyme polyphenol oxidase, which is responsible for the browning.

Salt and lemon juice also help a great deal, if you can't eat much salt use a bit more of the lemon.

We don't usually think to pair herbs with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries or blueberries but adding savory herbs like mint, thyme, rosemary can take blueberry pie or blackberry cobbler—not to mention fresh strawberries and raspberry jam—from pretty good to prize-winning.

Use citrus juice, like orange or lemon juice

“To prevent fruit salad from turning brown, you can toss the fruits in a mixture of citrus juice (like lemon or orange juice) before combining them, as the citric acid in the juice helps inhibit enzymatic browning by reducing the fruits' exposure to oxygen,” she says.

Pineapple juice is going to make grapes slimy. Kiwi and cantaloupe that sit out together are going to start to taste muddy. A good rule of thumb is to imagine that you're going to make a smoothie out of all the fruit you're planning to put in your salad and ask yourself if it would taste good.

Toss them in sugar, honey, or maple syrup, along with a little fresh juice or alcohol (an herbal liqueur, like elderflower spirit, would be great). You don't need a lot to get the berries rocking; a quarter- to a half-cup of juice or booze, and about double the amount of sugar, is all you need.

Macerate with lemon juice and sugar

Together, lemon juice and sugar are a pair that takes the concept of "fruit enhancement" to an entirely new level. The acid in lemon juice brightens the natural flavors of fruit and prevents oxidation, which makes fruits like apples and bananas go brown after being cut.

Make the dish the day before, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it.

While you can serve the Fruit Salad immediately, my preference is to chill it for several hours (or even overnight) so the sugar syrup has time to both soften and flavor the fruits.

What fruit mixes well with berries? ›

Blueberry: Pairs well with other berries, cardamom, cinnamon, citrus, fig, ginger, hazelnut, honey, lavender, lemon, lemon verbena, mango, mint, nutmeg, peach, vanilla, and watermelon. Accent blueberries with berry and orange liqueurs. It's a fun flavor to mix with, and blueberry co*cktails can be diverse.

Avoid white and yellow berries, as most of them are poisonous. Blue and black berries are usually safe to eat. The "berry rule" is that 10% of white and yellow berries are edible; 50% of red berries are edible; 90% of blue, black, or purple berries are edible, and 99% of aggregated berries are edible.

Keep cut fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, and peaches from turning brown by: Coating them with an acidic juice such as lemon, orange, or pineapple juice. Use a commercial anti-darkening preparation with fruits, such as Fruit-Fresh®*, and follow the manufacturer's directions.

A sprinkling of lemon juice keeps apples, avocados and bananas from turning brown, adding two or three extra days to their shelf life in the fridge, or extra hours to their ability to stay edible in a lunchbox at room temp.

Lemon juice is another natural acidulant commonly used in home food preservation. To ensure safe acidity in whole, crushed, or juiced tomatoes, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per quart of tomatoes or 1 tablespoon per pint. Fresh-squeezed lemon juice can contain varying amounts of acid.

Combine the water, vinegar and lemon juice in a clean spray bottle. Shake to combine before each use. To clean produce; spray each piece of fruit or vegetable liberally, and let it sit for 10 minutes, rinse with cold water and prepare as usual or dry and store in the refrigerator.