wangh928

Sometimes I add blueberries or cut up strawberries, if I happen tohave them. They integrate well into the basic combination of fruit,and give a healthful dollop of nutrition. If you do addblueberries, be sure to do it shortly before you plan to serve thefruit salad, since blueberries tend to turn everything purple. You could use canned pineapple, but I wouldn't recommend it. It'snot that the fruit salad will taste bad, but the taste and textureof fresh pineapple is superior. If you have never cut up a fresh pineapple, don't be daunted by itsprickly leaves and rough exterior. You will need a sharp knife anda sturdy cutting board, but it's not rocket science. First cut off the top, with its sharp, spiny leaves, then cut aslice from the base. Place the pineapple upright on a cuttingboard. Place the sharp knife at the top of the fruit about ? inchinside the rough skin, and cut downward, slicing off a segment ofthe skin. Continue around the pineapple in this fashion until allthe rough skin is cut away. If there are small pieces of skin or"eyes" still adhering to the fruit, cut them away as well. Youshould now have a "naked" pineapple. With the fruit still upright, cut it vertically in half, then cuteach half in half. You should now have four large wedges. Eachwedge has a section of the core. You will see that it is slightlylighter in color than the edible fruit of the pineapple. Make along vertical cut through each wedge to cut away the core. At thispoint you will have a good sized pile of waste to discard. Whatremains is juicy fruit that you can cut into chunks. Pineapple is an excellent source of vitamin C. One cup of cutpineapple has 33 percent of the recommended dietary allowance forthis important vitamin. One cup of fresh pineapple also has all the manganese you need in aday, plus a little more. Manganese is a key component in manyenzyme systems in the body, including the enzyme superoxidedismutase. This enzyme helps to decrease the amount of freeradicals produced in the mitochondria. Mitochondria manufactureenergy in the body's cells. Be sure to choose pineapple that are heavy for their size, with nosoft spots. They should have a sweet smell at the stem end. I findthat the sweeter, riper pineapples have more gold and less green intheir coloring. While pineapple don't ripen after picking, if youleave them out a day or two before serving they will be softer andjuicier. Fruit Salad