Fruit salad in an orange bowl

This is a cute and decorative idea for serving a light fruit salad to guests at a party or as a snack at home.  It is very easy and does not require a great amount of preparation.  I used kiwis, red grapes, watermelon, blackberries, cantaloupe, and unsweetened coconut for a tropical flair.  This recipe yields 2 servings at approximately 190 calories per serving depending on the variety of fruit used.

Fresh fruit salad in an orange bowl
2 large oranges
2 kiwi, cut into slices and quartered
1 cup of assorted chopped fresh fruits including:
Red grapes
blackberries
cantaloupe
watermelon
pineapple
green grapes
pineapple

Shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon honey, or according to taste
Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Slice the top off of both of the oranges.

Remove the pulp from each orange and place the orange sections with the other chopped fruit in a separate bowl.

Slice the kiwi into individual slices and then quarter.

Combine all of the fruit in a bowl and add a few sprinkles of shredded unsweetened coconut.  Add 1 teaspoon of honey, or according to taste.  Stir until combined.

Slice the bottom of each orange so it is level and can be used as a fruit bowl.  Add the fresh fruit mixture equally to each orange and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Enjoy!

Fruit Pizza

I wanted to make a healthy after dinner dessert for Christmas dinner at our home.  This is a great way to serve healthy fruits.  The difficult part was coming up with a tasty crust.  This crust is a mixture of whole wheat flour, olive oil, and buttery spread.  It tasted very similar to a graham cracker crust which was a surprise to me.  I used 1/2 cup Filippo Berio Olive oil (for Sauteing and Grilling) which did not overwhelm the taste of the crust.

Fruit Pizza

1/2 cup olive oil (I used Filippo Berio olive oil for sauteing & grilling)
2 teaspoons Promise light spread
1/2 cup sweetener of choice (or sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 ounces fat free cream cheese
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sweetener of choice (or sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fruit topping can be a variety of fresh fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, mango and pineapple, etc.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For the crust, in a large bowl mix together olive oil, promise light spread, sweetener of choice (or sugar), vanilla and egg until blended.  And flour and baking powder to the oil and egg mixture and combine.  The texture will be crumbly, similar to a graham cracker texture. 

Spread mixture on a pizza pan or cooking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes and then cool.

Mix together cream cheese, sweetener of choice (or sugar), and vanilla.  Spread over the cooled crust using a pastry bag or similar method as the cream cheese mixture will be very sticky.

Arrange fresh fruit over the top of the pizza.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy! This recipe yields approximately 12 servings.