Fruit Salads Are Really a Reason to Eat More Cheese
Thick fruit salads topped with yogurt are decidedly non-sexy, especially after sitting on a picnic table for hours. But you don’t need yogurt for fruit salad. In fact, if I had to pick one kind of dairy to pair with a bunch of juicy sugary foods, I’d go for cheese.
The fruit-plus-cheese genre of fruit salads is almost endless, simply because fruit and cheese are two great things that go well together, and there are a lot of good fruits and cheeses. These are a few of my favorite combinations, which are mostly salad-shaped cheese platters.
Grapes + pears + parmesan
Cut the pears into thin vertical slices and cut the grapes in half. Drizzle with a simple vinaigrette , then sprinkle with coarse Parmesan flakes (use a Y peeler instead of a grater). Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh herbs (I love thyme and tarragon).
Pineapple + whipped cottage cheese + pistachios
Add a cup of cottage cheese and a teaspoon of olive oil to the bowl of a food processor and whisk for a minute , scraping from all sides. Spoon into a bowl with fresh pineapple on top. Sprinkle a handful of salted roasted pistachios (no shell, obviously) and pour over it all with the finest trickle of honey.
Melon + cottia + lime
If you want to break out of your feta routine, I recommend that you turn to a cat. It has a funky feta-like vibe with a crumbly salinity reminiscent of Parmesan. Squeeze half a fresh lime over a couple of cups of diced watermelon or melon, then chop as much cheese as you like on top. Add some ground mint or chili salt (depending on the direction you want to go) and grate lime zest for extra color and brightness.