In this fruit salad, I stretch one cup of strawberries into four servings by bulking them up with cheaper fruits such as bananas and oranges. Equal parts sugar and water plus some fresh mint and lemon become an elegant simple syrup that costs pennies to make. Simple syrup is a budget cook’s secret weapon when you want to dress up something ordinary like winter fruit, plain pound cake, or iced tea.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 20 minutes (plus 30 minutes to chill)
Cooking time: 2 minutes (plus 20 minutes to steep)
Ingredients
¾ cup sugar
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
6 fresh mint sprigs
1 orange, peeled and segmented
1 banana, sliced
1 cup sliced strawberries (about ½ pint)
In a medium saucepan, add the sugar, ¾ cup water, and the lemon zest and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is fragrant and the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, turn off the heat, cover the pan, and set aside for 20 minutes.
Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve and into a medium bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
Separate the mint leaves from the stems. Stack the mint leaves, roll into a tight cylinder, and slice crosswise into thin ribbons. Place the orange, banana, and strawberries in a medium bowl and toss with the mint and syrup. Serve in dessert bowls sprinkled with fresh mint.
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Celebrity chef, TV host, New York Times best-selling author and San Diego mom Melissa d'Arabian is an expert on affordable and healthy home cooking. Well-known for her “Ten Dollar Dinners” show and cookbook, she also serves as a judge on Food Network's “Guy’s Grocery Games.” Melissa’s new "Supermarket Healthy” cookbook is available December 30. Preorder now at www.melissadarabian.net. Recipe reprinted from the book Ten Dollar Dinners, published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc.
Published: November 2014
