Red, White and Blueberry Fruit Salad is a patriotic side dish made with fresh watermelon, strawberry, blueberries, dragon fruit and star-shaped apple bites with a simple honey lime dressing.
I cannot believe it is July already! Happy July 1st and I am hoping everyone has a great holiday weekend. We usually spend the holiday with neighbors to set up fireworks and grill out, then find a spot in the yard to watch the big firework show that happens just down the street from us at dark. A grill out necessity is always a big fruit salad!
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Red, White and Blueberry Fruit Salad
This Red, White and Blueberry Fruit Salad was inspired by the 4th of July approaching with the vibrant red strawberries, plump blueberries, white dragon fruit melon balls and the star shaped apples. Watermelon is added because the fruit is just so delicious during the summer and adds the perfect sweetness. The honey lime dressing adds a great zesty note and happens to work beautifully on any fruit salad you may toss together in the future.
How to Use a Melon Baller
While you can simply chop the watermelon and dragon fruit into cubes, using a Melon Baller is a fun way to add some shapes to your fruit salad.
Follow these instructions to use a melon baller : Use a Melon Baller.
Getting Star Shapes
Getting star shapes is super easy! You just need to slice your apple through the core and a Star-shaped Cookie Cutter. Use a small star (2-3 inch) and cut the stars around the core of the apple.
Red, White and Blueberry Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups watermelon cubes or balls
- 1 pint blueberries
- 16 ounces strawberries hull and halved
- 2 Granny Smith apples sliced and cut into stars
- 1 white dragon fruit cut into cubes or balls
Honey Lime Dressing
- 1 lime juice and zest
- 1/4 honey
Instructions
- Wash all your fruit.
- Cut the watermelon in half and dice or ball 2 cups worth. Toss in a large bowl.
- Add a pint of blueberries to bowl.
- Hull and cut strawberries into halves. Add to bowl.
- Cut the apples into slices. Do not remove core, just right through. Use a small star shaped cookie cutter to cut stars working around the core. Toss stars into bowl.
- Cut dragon fruit in half. Dice or use a melon baller and place chunks into bowl.
- Add the honey lime dressing and mix ingredients together.
Honey Lime Dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk together honey and the juice from 1 lime. Zest the entire lime and mix in.
What are you serving this 4th of July? Let me know in the comments below.
This time of year I do a lot of hosting at the house from Sunday football with friends to big holiday events like Christmas dinner with the family. A hummus platter is a really great way to feed the masses a healthy, delicious, filling snack that is zero guilt but still full on indulgence. Plus, the platter is quite stunning with all the different textures and colors throughout.
Chocolate Hummus Platter
Creating a Chocolate Hummus Platter is really simple. Place the Boar’s Head Dark Chocolate Hum-mus and Boar’s Head Smoked Gouda Cheese towards the center and then grab the other larger ingredients to place around those. Think about how colors are distributed. You don’t want one side heavy on a single color or texture. For example, don’t place the strawberries next to tomatoes alongside the pomegranate because the balance will be off. Distribute all those reds throughout different sections for a more visually appealing platter.
Don’t be afraid to make some swaps that work for you! Crackers, pita chips, oranges, kiwi, rosemary, almonds, raspberries would all be great options for your Chocolate Hummus Platter. Even try some crispy bacon!
Did I mention Triple Berry Yogurt Bark is so easy to make that even your kids can whip it up? My nine year old son helped today in the kitchen for this delicious breakfast. I am a big believer that everyone should have some skill in the kitchen and getting your children to help with simple recipes like this is the perfect start to teaching them basic cooking skills.
Next, wash your fresh, organic berries. This family loves strawberries, raspberries and blueberries so why pick just one? Spread out a cup of your fresh fruit over the Horizon Organic Yogurt, followed by some granola. Freeze for 3 hours, cut and serve.
Not only does Triple Berry Yogurt Bark make a great breakfast, it also provides the perfect after school snack. Here in the Cincinnati area, school starts really early in the season. Many schools are back in session beginning of August with no air conditioning provided in the buildings. My son comes home from school drenched in sweat. To cool off, some Triple Berry Yogurt Bark is cold and fruity. Just the type of snack he needs before he sits down to do homework.
Feel free to switch things up a bit and customize to your families likings. Vanilla and Strawberry flavored Horizon Organic Yogurt with sliced strawberries or maybe a Key Lime Horizon Organic Yogurt with fresh kiwi and orange slices. You may also add a bit of honey to mix into yogurt before spreading onto the baking sheet. Delish!
Red velvet cake and no extra work? Wait, what? If you have made a red velvet cake or two in your life, then you understand how it takes a little extra time and effort to make a red velvet cake. I actually made this recipe twice. The first time I made a red velvet cake from scratch. The cupcakes turned out amazing but this is Simply Made Recipes, not I Love Being in the Kitchen for 10 Hours Baking All Day. With that said, these cupcakes are from a box mix with a few extra ingredients added.
I had these Red, White and Blueberry Cupcakes completed start to last blueberry garnish in about an hour. Boo-yah! I whipped up a really simple cream cheese and blueberry filling for the center of the cupcakes that is optional. The filling adds a little extra flavor and fun little surprise! However, these cupcakes would be absolutely perfect without. So, if you are iffy about the filling, leave it out. No problem.
I went back and forth trying to decide of I wanted to make a fresh blueberry compote for the filling or make it creamy. I went with the cheesecake type flavor and texture because it is delicious! Duh. Also, much quicker and easier. In the photo above, you can see how I placed a little bit of red velvet batter on the bottom of the muffin pans and then just a glob of cream cheese filling on top. Yes, a glob is a very technical term. The cream cheese will weigh itself down a bit and the cake mix will expand and cook over the top of the cream cheese mix so you don’t need to be all crazy trying to get the batter perfect. I say that from experience. 
Let’s talk about how to make an incredible red velvet cake mix from a box. Here are my big tips to make it perfect:
I had to make a cream cheese frosting to pair with the red velvet because the two are just meant for each other. Cream cheese frosting is probably the easiest frosting to make. Take 8 ounces of cream cheese and a stick of butter. Blend the two with a hand mixer until nice and creamy. Then add in your confectioners sugar and vanilla extract and blend until it has a nice thick consistency. Add in a cup at a time of the confectioners sugar until the frosting is just right. You know it is done when you can take a spoonful and tip it upside down without it budging. You want it to be thick and stand up.
Any tip can be used for decorating. With cupcakes, I prefer the large or extra large frosting tips because they make the cupcakes look really pretty and full. Add a few fresh blueberries on top to finish of the look.
I enjoy making side dishes for family get togethers or neighborhood parties. I prefer to keep it simple when feeding a lot of people so everyone can dig in and enjoy. Fancy or complicated dishes can be confusing to some people and sometimes kids are weird about trying anything unfamiliar. Fruit Salad with Lemon Maple Dressing is one of those side dishes that will please everyone and does not take a lot of your time to put together.
The fun part of this dish is the star shaped fruit. I bought a pack of 
With my Fruit Salad with Lemon Maple Dressing in hand, I am ready for all the summer grill outs we will be attending or hosting. So fresh, easy, healthy and a complete crowd pleasure that happens to also be budget friendly and shows a little creativity.
