Sliced bananas, strawberries, pineapple, chopped walnuts, and toasted coconut flakes covered in a dreamy dressing is sure to put a smile on your face and become your next family favorite. This week’s Whip It Up Wednesday recipe is ideal for summer picnics or just plain fun. Whole Food Plant Based recipe, no oil, no refined sugar, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Ameera here!
Who doesn’t love a delicious fruit salad? This tropical twist brings together fruit, nuts, and creamy perfection for this week’s Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures Whip It Up Wednesday recipe.
Every Wednesday, we feature a quick and easy recipe that can be “whipped up” in 20 minutes or less. We know most of our Readers lead busy lives and we wanted to help speed things up in the kitchen by creating a weekly recipe that we hope can help simplify your lives.
This week’s Whip It Up Wednesday recipe features a super yummy fruit salad that is creamy, fresh, and satisfying.
Fruit Salad
Plain fruit salads are so much fun. I absolutely love fresh fruit, especially seasonal fruit. However, Mom and I wanted to make a fruit salad that had something just a little extra special to kick it up a notch.
Creating a creamy dressing does exactly that. This lightly sweetened cashew cream dressing really hits the spot.
This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here
Tips and Tricks for Success
Using dates is probably one of the healthiest way to sweeten a dish. We use them all the time in our recipes. However, one slight downside is that dates are brown, and when you use them in a cashew cream, they turn your cashew cream slightly golden brown.
Normally, this is not an issue at all, but when you serve a dish like this to others, they may think that something is “off” with your fruit salad. Our suggestion is to dress the salad right before serving.
Additionally, you may wish to advise any guests that the recipe uses dates as a sweetener so that is why the dressing is “date” brown.
We also decorated the top of the fruit salad with fresh fruit. This helped everyone understand exactly what was in the salad. It is beautifully delicious.
We hope you enjoy our new Whip It Up Wednesday quick and easy idea!
Products Used:
- Strainer (to rinse the fruit)
- High Speed Blender (dressing)
Tropical Fruit Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
Description
This Tropical Fruit Salad boasts sliced bananas, strawberries, pineapple, chopped walnuts, and toasted coconut flakes covered in a dreamy dressing is sure to put a smile on your face and become your next family favorite. This week’s Whip It Up Wednesday recipe is ideal for summer picnics or just plain fun. Whole Food Plant Based recipe, no oil, no refined sugar, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Ingredients
Fruit Salad Dressing Ingredients:
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight or quick soak
- ½ cup unsweetened plain plant milk
- 6 Medjool dates, softened, pitted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Fruit Salad Ingredients:
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (fancy flakes), toasted (optional)
- 20 oz. strawberries (sliced)
- 2 lbs. fresh pineapples, chunked into bitesize pieces
- 2 bananas, sliced
- 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted (optional)
Additional Toppings:
- Additional pieces of fresh fruit, chopped walnuts, and toasted coconut
Instructions
Fruit Salad Dressing Instructions
- Soaking the cashews: Place 1/2 cup of raw cashews in a bowl, cover with water, and soak overnight. Quick Soak Method: Place ½ cup of raw cashews in a bowl, cover with boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain water when ready to use.
- If using Medjool dates: They are typically already soft and do not need softened further. If not using Medjool dates, then place the dates in a small bowl, cover the dates with boiling water and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Fish out the dates from the water, pinch it to ensure that there is no pit before using.
- Place all the Fruit Salad Dressing Ingredients into a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until very smooth and the consistency is creamy. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Fruit Salad Instructions
- Toast the coconut flakes in the oven by placing them on a baking sheet in a 350 F preheated oven. This only takes minutes so watch them carefully. Just toast them until they are golden. Remove and allow to cool completely. (OR skip this step if you have already purchased toasted coconut flakes.)
- Chop the walnuts, set aside.
- Prepare all the fruit, place in a large bowl. Do not prepare the bananas until right before serving as they tend to turn brown.
Fruit Salad Assembly:
- Place all the prepared fruit in a bowl. Reserve some fruit, coconut and chopped walnuts for the topping.
- When ready to serve, place the Fruit Salad Dressing in a bowl and add a Tablespoon of unsweetened plain plant milk to thin out the dressing. This may require 1 or 2 Tablespoons as refrigeration tends to cause cashew-based dressings to thicken.
- Then gently toss the fruit salad dressing with the prepared fruit until well coated. Add the fresh fruit on top. (See notes*)
Notes
*Cashew Cream/Date Fruit Salad Dressing: Please note that using dates is a delicious and healthy way to sweeten a fruit salad; however, it does turn the fruit dressing a light shade of “date” brown.
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 2 days.
*Serving: 8 to 10, picnic sized bowl
Storage: Refrigerate. Use within 2 days. 
This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here