Nothing says summertime like copious sunburns, drinking outside and picnics. You could be “that girl” and bring coleslaw, hot dog buns or worse…the dreaded bag of chips, to your next backyard bash, or you could wow the hell out of your friends and bring the best damn fruit salad they’ve ever had.

Now don’t get ahead of yourself. Fruit salad is not for the faint of heart. It can be time-consuming and expensive if you don’t plan it out just right. Here are a few tips for making this healthy, fun summer treat.

1. Use fresh fruit. This should go without saying but I’m saying it anyway. Frozen fruit is for smoothies, margaritas and ice packs..not salad.

2. Search for bargains. To make a good salad you could be buying 8-10 types of fresh fruit. The price tag can get pretty high if you don’t shop around. Try to buy at least half of your fruit on sale. This isn’t tough to do in the summer with so much fresh stuff in season. Because you’ll be cutting and chopping you can also take “scratch and dent” fruit (the stuff with small bruises).

3. Watch out for ripeness. While you can get fruit that’s a little bruised, you shouldn’t buy fruit that’s too ripe. It’s soft, mealy and generally difficult to slice. Purchase your pieces before their peak of ripeness to avoid this. The fruit will soften up in the bowl.

So how do you get started? The trick to fruit salad is balancing flavor, color, shapes and textures. Experiment with different types of fruit and decide what works best for you. As far as chopping goes, keep your pieces bite size (nothing ruins a picnic like someone choking on your side dish) and try to slice each fruit differently. It gives your salad a little personality.

Let’s talk fruit Here’s what I use in a typical fruit salad. This recipe makes enough salad to feed a small crowd, approximately 10-15 people.

Two plastic cartons of Strawberries
2 bunches (About half the bag they sell at the grocery store) of Green Grapes
2 bunches of Red Grapes
1 peeled and cored Pineapple
3-5 Kiwis
3-5 Plums
4-6 Nectarines
1/4 of a Watermelon
3/4 - 1 Pint of Blueberries

Wash, peel and slice the strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, plum, nectarines, and watermelon. Clean the grapes and blueberries and set them aside. Keep the fruit separated until it is all prepared so you can pour it into your serving bowl evenly, keeping the mixture proportional. Shortly before you’re ready to serve mix-in the blueberries. Blueberries tend to get soft and mushy if you mix them in too soon. The color and texture are perfect if you don’t let them get soggy.

For a nice touch I like to stir in a few tablespoons of fruit punch to my completed salads. Because I buy some of my fruit before it’s ripe, the punch adds a little sweetness without masking any of the flavors. It’s subtle but it gives the salad that extra something. Orange juice also works.

Do you have a tried and true fruit salad recipe? Any fruits I should add to shake-up my next picnic?

[Photo: CulinaryDelightCatering.Com]