July 4th Grilled Fruit Salad
Grilling fruit creates a more complex flavor, which is delicious alone—or on top of lettuce in this Grilled Fruit Salad
I love hanging out (even virtually) with other bloggers. Nothing like a bunch of clever cooks and a food challenge to push you to new levels. So this week I made a Grilled Fruit Salad, decked out for the 4th of July.
Grilled Fruit Salad
Yes, this month’s challenge was grilling—something I normally leave to my husband.
The other piece to this is a vague memory I have of grilled watermelon stars that I saw in my mother’s Good Housekeeping magazine. It’s been on my “must try” list for ages, so I picked the grilled fruit category for this event.
Grilled Fruit Salad with Watermelon Stars
I decided to grill the pineapple and watermelon for this salad in slices and cut them up afterwards. I couldn’t get the grill above 350F–rather than the 400 F that I have seen recommended, but figured I’d go ahead anyway (did I mention my husband usually does the grilling?). Nonetheless, the pineapple developed beautiful grill marks and a delightful flavor. The watermelon just looked anemic and sunken. I eventually gave up and put it on a hot grill pan on the kitchen stove which worked much better.
Grilling fruit
As I nibbled the test slices off the grill, I decided that grilled fruit develops a more complex, and slightly more savory flavor profile, which would be delicious alone—or on top of a lettuce salad. To keep with the July 4th, red white and blue, theme, I also added blueberries and fresh mozzarella pearls. The extra protein means it could even serve as a dinner salad.
Grilled Fruit Salad from above
Will I grill fruit again? The jury’s still out on the watermelon. With a hotter grill (did I mention my husband usually grills?) or watermelon that is a bit less ripe, I might be happier with the results (though it still made a pretty garnish). I loved the pineapple–all by itself or drizzled with the dressing–and can’t wait to try peaches.
Happy summer!
- • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- • 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (from ½ lemon)
- • zest from ½ lemon
- • ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- • 4 cups torn Boston lettuce
- • 4 ounces fresh mozzarella balls
- • ½ cup blueberries
- • ½ pineapple
- • 1 lb watermelon (8 stars, cut from 1/2 small watermelon)
- • leaves from a couple sprigs of fresh thyme or marjoram or herb of your choice (plus more to garnish if desired)
- Combine dressing ingredients and whisk until well blended.
- Grill watermelon and pineapples slices on very hot grill for 2-3 minutes on each side. Cut to desired shaped (or bite-sized pieces)
- Distribute lettuce among 4 bowls. Drizzle each salad with about a half tablespoon of dressing. Top with the remaining ingredients (fruit, fresh mozzarella, herbs), then drizzle with dressing again.
The sweetness of the watermelon combined with other fruits make a perfect and healthy fruit salad.
Thanks Paul!
You recipes always look so scrumptious, Inger!
i haven’t grilled anything on our weber, much less fruit! i’ve always wanted to taste it, though, so maybe i’ll convince my husband to give it a go!
Yes, I think getting the husband to do it is the way to go 😉
This is a beautiful way to serve up a summer salad. If only everyone knew how much sweetness with a hint of smokiness is drawn after a short time on the grill.
Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Velva
Thanks Velva. I was surprised myself at how nice the fruit came out! I just did the grilled Romaine salad one of the other bloggers did and we loved that too! Isn’t summer great!
The watermelon stars are gorgeous! My husband does all the grilling (I handle everything else), and I’d be equally as challenged at it as you. Happy 4th of July!
Thanks Beth. Yes, I think my husband’s going to keep doing the grilling!
How fun that you decided to try this, Inger. I read with great interest, as we have a watermelon in the frig right now. (I suppose half the country has a watermelon in the frig…) Our grill gets pretty hot, but the watermelon is pretty ripe. We may have to try! Happy 4th! (And those stars are awesome.)
I think I’m taking some time off watermelon after this. But now that I know I can even do this on the grill pan, I can even see watermelon star garnish on a plate of burgers and brats.
Hmmm. My jury is out on grilled fruit but you’ve inspired me to give it a try.
I must confess that I left this to the last minute being a little hesitant myself Tammy! Not that I expect to take over grilling from my husband!
I think the grilled watermelon is a fantastic idea. I love the star shape idea for the holiday. The salad looks and sounds delicious. Will give it a try this weekend. 🙂
Thanks Sujhey. Hope you have a great weekend!
This grilled fruit salad looks lovely! Watermelon is my favorite fruit, but I have never actually had it grilled. Going to try it one of these days to find out for myself what it’s like. Happy 4th!!
I was excited to get fruits and vegetables and protein in one salad Thao. Enjoy your 4th too!
Gorgeous colors! I haven’t tried grilled pineapple or watermelon but it sounds so delicious. I’ll definitely be giving it a try!
I’m so glad our “cookout” pushed me to try this Jordan!
Beautiful and delicious !!
Thanks Gloria!
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I LOVE Grilled pineapple and now I need to try watermelon 🙂
Oh you should Sarah! Wasn’t this fun!
Always fun to try new techniques! Well done Ingrid
Thanks Liz. It was fun!
Even if it wasn’t exactly what you wanted, it looks beautiful! and I bet it tastes too.
Thanks David. Yes, I do find it easy to be too critical of my own work sometimes. Now bring on the peaches!