Creamy Lemon Coconut Fruit Salad

Sometimes it is nice to have a sweet fruit salad to accompany a meal or even have for dessert.  It is the time of year that we all start craving fresh fruit again, and sometimes it is nice to make something a little more special with it than just taking a bite out of it.  I came up with a creamy fruit salad which uses creamy coconut milk laced with lemon for the dressing in place of the usual dairy in traditional fruit salads.  It is a delicious vegan variation on a classic and is wonderful served for company or as a light dessert even.

Author: Amy Lyons O’Neil

Amy has worked for Fresh and Natural Foods since 2006 contributing to the variety of healthful foods we offer. She graduated with a degree in studio art from Bethel University in 2007, but in her senior year of college, found that her passion was with the art of food. She later used her photography and culinary skills to create a vegan food and recipe blog, Fragrant Vanilla Cake. She has also written 3 cookbooks. She specializes in vegan and vegetarian recipes. Local, fresh and organic food has always been her focus in whatever she creates.

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Servings: 6-10 | Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Ready in: 15 min

Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1 1/4 cups chilled full fat Native Forest coconut milk (from the top of the can)
• 2 Tbsp organic lemon zest
• 3 Tbsp Woodstock organic lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp agave nectar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• seeds of one vanilla bean (optional)
• 3 cups organic red grapes
• 2 medium organic sweet apples (such as Pink Lady), sliced
• 2 cups organic strawberries, quartered
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• 1/2 cup toasted large flake coconut

Instructions

To make dressing, in a medium chilled bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth.  Place fruit in a large bowl, along with most of pecans and coconut (reserving some for topping), and toss to combine.  Place salad on a serving platter and sprinkle with remaining pecans and coconut before serving.