A Twist on the Easy Fruit Salad

So, apparently ‘fruit salad’ on the east coast is literally just a bunch of chopped up fresh fruit, cohabitating in one bowl, possible even in a watermelon carved into a bowl shape. Sounds good to me, I love fresh fruit. I just hate buying it because if I don’t eat it all, I hate the guilt that goes along with it (not to mention the smell of fruit that’s gone bad…).

So a slightly less-healthy version of the fruit salad follows, because a) its ingredients are all canned or pre-packaged (which means you do not have to rinse or chop a damn thing) and b) it’s not THAT bad for you, and is a great summery treat. And also, this is what I grew up with, and why I am always confused when fruit salad does not come with marshmallows…

So here goes:

1 small can mandarin orange slices, drained

1 small can of pineapple chunks, drained

1 can chunky fruit cocktail (I hate the word chunk too, please go with it), drained

1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained

1 cup sour cream (again, I use low fat/no fat but please go with your gut)

½ bag shredded coconut

¾ bag of mini-marshmallows

Mix fruit and sour cream in a large bowl. Stir in shredded coconut, about ¾ of the cherries, and the marshmallows. If the mixture seems too dry, add a little more sour cream. Garnish with cherries and extra coconut, and if you’re feeling fancy, you can add walnuts or pecans to the top. Voila, a ridiculously easy sweet snack or dessert that’s quite delicious.