There seems to be a huge amount of Dragon Fruit in the markets these days. At least more than I’ve ever noticed before. Not having a clue what to do with a Dragon Fruit I consulted my favorite “strange fruit” expert, Aly, and decided to try one in a salad. I found this great Dragon Fruit Waldorf Salad from the Food Network. I typically change things up a bit, substituting walnuts with cashews so my skipper could eat it. But this recipe already swapped out the walnuts with cashews so I was good to go. I just increased honey, lemon and ginger a bit from the original recipe. The extra ginger gives it a zing you don’t find in most Waldorf Salads.
Dragon Fruit Waldorf Salad
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon (preferably Meyer lemon)
2 teaspoons honey
1-2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/2+ teaspoon kosher salt
1 large ripe Dragon fruit
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cubed
1/2 cup red seedless grapes, halved
1/3 cup cashews, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
4 leaves Bibb or iceberg lettuce
Being new to Dragon Fruit I wasn’t sure what I was up against but preparing the fruit is easy day. Just cut off the ends and quarter the fruit slicing lengthwise. Then just peel back the pink skin. The riper and softer the fruit, the sweeter it is, so try to get a nice ripe one. Slice into 1/2″ triangles.
Whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, ginger and salt in a large bowl. Today I substituted the plain yogurt and honey with a Greek Honey yogurt that I happened to have on board. It worked great. Fold in the apples, grapes, 3/4 of the dragon fruit pieces and 3/4 of both the cilantro and the cashews. You’ll be leaving some extra for topping the salad. It can be refrigerated until ready to serve.
For serving individual bowls, put a lettuce leaf in each of 4 small bowls, and top each with a scoop of salad. Garnish with the remaining dragon fruit, cilantro and cashews. If you’re serving in one large salad bowl, line the bottom and sides with the Bibb lettuce leavesand scoop the fruit salad onto the leaves. Top with remaining fruit, cilantro and cashews.
Dragon Fruit Waldorf Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Large, ripe Dragon Fruit
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp Mayonnaise
- Juice of 1 lemon (preferably Meyer lemon)
- 2 tsp Honey
- 1-2 tsp Freshly grated ginger
- 1/2+ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
- 1/2 cup Red seedless grapes, halved
- 1/3 cup Cashews, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
- Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves
Instructions
- Cut off the ends off the Dragon Fruit and quarter the fruit slicing lengthwise. Then just peel back the pink skin. Slice into 1/2" triangles.
- Whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, ginger and salt in a large bowl. Fold in the apples, grapes, 3/4 of the dragon fruit pieces and 3/4 of both the cilantro and the cashews. You'll be leaving some extra for topping the salad. It can be refrigerated until ready to serve.
- For serving individual bowls, put a lettuce leaf in each of 4 small bowls, and top each with a scoop of salad. Garnish with the remaining dragon fruit, cilantro and cashews. If you're serving in one large salad bowl, line the bottom and sides with the Bibb lettuce leave and scoop the fruit salad onto the leaves. Top with remaining fruit, cilantro and cashews.
