This Summer Salad With Fruits & Basil recipe is my way of fresh salad all summer long. Skip your veggies and add in the fruits, balance out the sweetness with some kale and upgrade the freshness with a sweet basil dressing. It makes a perfect BBQ salad, a picnic and potluck favorite or just a nice light lunch salad. Add in your favorites and swap any ingredient with what you have in your fridge–personalize it and devour. Simple, quick, fresh and easy.
I love simple recipes like that. You know how they say, the simplest things in life make all the difference? A recipe like this summer fruit salad fits right in. To be honest, summer plays a role too—every summer I get the feeling that whatever I’m eating makes me heavy. But since I’m very much a salad person (which I mention A LOT—yes I brag about that proudly unlike my other foodie obsessions lol ), I wanted to lighten them up even more for summer.
So yes I skipped all the grains, the usual salad veggies, and any strong or heavy salad dressing. I went for sweet fruits, sweet corn and kale. Any fruits you have here would work beautifully—today I used grapes, apricots and strawberries. I also added in some bocconcini because they’re neutral tasting and compliment the sweet fruits wonderfully. The cheese here is completely optional so feel free to skip it if you’re making this summer salad vegan friendly.
Finally the dressing. Since it’s summer, it’s a light salad, it’s sweet and it’s got some bocconcini..then basil is the herb of choice. To make the dressing feel creamy without adding any mayo, sour cream or yogurt, I add half an avocado to it. This avocado makes a creamy dreamy dressing without the guilt. So basically the basil salad dressing has plenty of fresh basil leaves, a tiny touch of garlic, some white balsamic vinegar, half an avocado and some olive oil. I love thinning out the dressing with just a bit of water, but if you like a thicker dressing, just use it as it. You can add some nuts, sun dried tomatoes, roast peppers, kalamata olives and your favorite ingredients to twist the dressing and upgrade your summer salad!
This summer salad is easily prepared in advance and dressed up when you’re ready to serve it. I love to bring two things to potlucks, always. A salad and something sweet. For salads, I always pack the dressing separately in a small container, that way the salad always tastes fresh and the veggies (or fruits) never lose their textures. I do the same for picnics. And since it’s BBQ season—don’t miss this with some grilled chicken or steak, and maybe leave some dressing aside to drizzle over the grilled meats for a brighter taste! Now enjoy!
Summer Salad With Fruits & Basil
This Summer Salad With Fruits & Basil recipe is my way of fresh salad all summer long. Skip your veggies and add in the fruits, balance out the sweetness with some kale and upgrade the freshness with a sweet basil dressing. It makes a perfect BBQ salad, a picnic and potluck favorite or just a nice light lunch salad.
Ingredients
- Salad:
- 2 cups of fresh chopped kale leaves
- 1 cup of cooked or raw corn (your preference)
- 2 cups of fruits combined ( a mixture of grapes, slices strawberries and sliced apricots)
- 1/2 cup of bocconcini cheese
- 1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves
- Fresh Basil Salad Dressing;
- 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves
- 1 small clove of garlic (or half a large one)
- 1/2 an avocado
- 3 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- **add 2 Tablespoons more or less of water to adjust thickness the dressing if needed.
Instructions
-
Add all the salad ingredients on a plate and arrange them as evenly as you can.
-
For the dressing, place all the ingredients (except for the water) in a food processor and pule until smooth. Taste the dressing and adjust the salt. If the thickness of the dressing is the consistency you like, use it as is, otherwise add water by the tablespoon only and pulse to thin out the dressing bit by bit.
-
Pour the dressing over the salad when you’re ready to serve the salad. Enjoy!! 🙂
Thanks Julia! I can’t get enough of this salad, and of summer! 🙂