The sweet-and-salty, tangy, herbaceous dressing in this Basil Lime Fruit Salad puts an elevated spin on the traditional fruit bowl. Its refreshing dish to serve at a brunch, lunch or summer potluck.
I attended a brunch at a friend’s gorgeous home over the weekend — she and her husband have been renovating a cute little Victorian for almost a year and she invited some friends over for the big reveal. Since my friend is an excellent cook she’d planned a wonderful menu for the day and asked the guests to contribute a salad or fruit dish. Fruit seemed like the most logical bet for a 10:30 brunch but I didn’t want to show up with a bowl of lame, soggy fruit chunks.
Cutting the fruit into flower shapes and adding the dressing livened things up. I’d originally gotten these flower-shaped cooking cutters for a cute Mother’s Day Fruit Bouquet Project that the kids and I worked on for The Inspired Home. 
For this salad, I cut cantaloupe, mango and strawberries. The dressing is simply the juice of a lime tossed with a touch of honey, kosher salt and fresh basil. The salt is key to balancing the sweet fruit and really brings out the basil flavor. Even my kids loved it — especially with the pretty flower shapes. I sense this will be in regular rotation through the summer.
Easy Basil Lime Fruit Salad
Makes 4 – 6 appetizer servings
Ingredients
1/2 cantaloupe, seeded and sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
2 mangos, peeled, seeded and sliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
5 basil leaves, minced
Instructions
- Use a small flower shaped cookie cutter to cut melon and mango into flower shapes (optional).
- Toss melon, mango and strawberries in a medium bowl.
- Combine lime juice, honey, salt and basil leaves in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Pour dressing over the fruit and toss gently to combine. Cover tightly and chill until ready to serve.
