Fruit Salad --> Fruit Parfait

I loooooooooooooove LOVE loooove summer. Not just because it warm out, or the leisurely way everyone goes about their lives. But because of the FRUIT. When you walk around parks with the farmer's markets, the fruits call to you, screaming, "EAT ME!" They tempt you as you peruse by with their scented nectar, pulling you in with their perfume. The berries, the peaches, the pineapples and melons. And they seem to get me every time.

And then Suanne has a treasure trove of fruit. In a one-person household -____-;;

Now Kelly will tell you she freezes her fruit. Suanne will tell you its a crime of nature not to eat them now. hahaha. So I make fruit salad!

My most recent fruit salad included strawberries, peaches, apple, and orange segments plus zest. Let me tell you how to segment an orange - otherwise called supremes.

You can watch chef Ming (and his always color coordinated dish towels to his shirts) supreme an orange here:


Technique: How to Supreme Citrus Fruit

1. Get a SHARP knife. This will not work with a butter knife. If you need zest, zest the fruit first.
2. Take your orange/lemon/lime/grapefruit/pomelo and slice off a bit from the top and bottom. (aka the part where the stem was). You want to cut enough so that you slice through the pith (the white squishy part) and can see the fruit.
3. Stand the fruit on the sliced edge.
4. Slice the fruit from the top, cutting with the curve of the fruit, separating the pith/skin from the fruit. This will make orange juice on your cutting board, so make sure you have a good hold on the fruit. Take your time.
5. Continue to slice all the pith and skin from the fruit so you have a globe of solid orange/lemon/whatever.
6. When you look at the fruit, you should see the longitudinal lines (vertical) that separate the segments. Cut just a smidge to the left and right of these lines and wiggle the supreme out. Now you have yummy fruit, with no pith or membranes! Isn't that faster than peeling?
7. Take the leftover membrane after you've removed all the segments, and give it a good squeeze. Reserve if you need some of the juice :)

And now for the parfait! When you have too much fruit salad, or just want to dress it up, grab some yogurt and you have a very impressive breakfast or light dessert.

Summer Fruit Parfait
Serves four large portions or six smaller ones

Two peaches
1 apple (granny smith or fuji)
1 orange
pint of strawberries
honey
plain or vanilla yogurt
sliced nuts (almonds for me)

1. Wash and dry your fruit.
2. Get rid of leaves, pits, and not so yummy parts of the fruit, like bruises
3. Zest and supreme the orange (no juice!! just the supremes and zest!)
4. Slice your fruit into 1/2 inch cubes. (the smaller the cubes, the prettier the parfait. Bigger cubes are great for just salad)
5. Toss in a big bowl!
6. Squirt a teaspoon of honey over the top, mix well. (if you just want salad stop here)
7. Grab 4 or 6 wine glasses
8. Add 3/4 an inch of fruit.
9. Add a layer of yogurt. Add a layer of fruit, yogurt, etc until you hit the top
10. Top with yogurt and the nuts.
11. Serve within 30 min. Salad is good for about 24 hours, then it gets kinda soppy.
12. ENJOY!