Tropical Fruit Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts and Coconut

I literally woke up this morning in the middle of a dream about tropical fruit salad.  It started with plantains (which did not make the cut in my real-life salad because they have no business there), but then it snowballed into mangoes and pineapples and toasted hazelnuts, and all sorts of things that I ended up REALLY wanting to eat.  And thus, a goal for my day off was born!  (Or at least a second goal that would compete for attention with my previously established goals of washing my sheets and taking the dog for a run.  I think I can find time for all three… )

Why was I dreaming about tropical fruit salad though?  We must analyze this.  I suspect it’s because I’m sorely in need of a tropical vacation.  (Or maybe I’m sorely in need of some Vitamin C?  Am I flirting with scurvy?  If so, thank you Subconscious for pointing me in the right direction.)  So yeah, I think it’s time to talk to the hubs about a vacay…

So like I said, once I woke up, my analytical left brain kicked in and helped me to narrowly avoid trying to make a raw plantain salad.  Instead, I redirected and started planning for a banana base.  Since we’re not adding sugar, the sweetness of the bananas is important in this recipe!  This is a no-added-sugar, tangy, fruity, healthy, and filling fruit salad.

Ok, ok, so where were we?  Oh yes, bananas.  Then, pineapples (duh), mango, kiwis, and that should cover our fruit bases.  I wanted something crunchy… Almonds?  No, that would be so typical of me.  How about hazelnuts?  And because we’re celebrating the tropics, some shredded coconut.  I gathered up some essentials, and set to work.

I suffered only one major disappointment – the mango was about as hard as a rock and almost as flavorful.  #mangofail.  The kiwis were a little tangy, but the sweetness of the pineapple and bananas made up the difference, and I scavenged the last few mango chunks from a bag of frozen fruit in the freezer thus rounding out my intended ingredient list.

Go ahead and chop up those hazelnuts so you can get them toasting in the oven while you chop the rest of your fruit…

And then thank your lucky stars for pineapple that tastes like candy being available in Ohio in March.  The future is now, folks.  Why aren’t we more amazed by this every day??

And…. assemble.  In the bottom of this bowl, I whisked together some Greek yogurt with vanilla extract and a little bit of almond milk to thin it out, but, to reiterate, it isn’t sweetened with anything which means the finished product can be tangy AF.  If your fruit is really struggling with its sweetness, it wouldn’t be crazy to add some honey to that yogurt too.  Just depends on how righteous you’re being today.  Frankly, you don’t have to add yogurt, but I thought it would be nice to help the nuts and coconut adhere to the fruit, and sure enough, I was glad it was there.  So atop your yogurt, pile up your fruit, nuts, and coconut, and then toss it all together, and BAM – you’re on the beach.

If you’re bringing your tropical fruit salad somewhere to share, you can wait until the last minute to mix it up.  It makes for a beautiful presentation before it’s all mixed together.  I hope you’ll join me on my staycation.  Here’s the step by step… Enjoy!

[lt_recipe name=”Tropical Fruit Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts and Coconut” servings=”6″ prep_time=”20M” total_time=”20M” difficulty=”Easy” summary=”Dreaming about tropical fruit in March probably means I need a vacation, but today I’m settling for a delicious fresh tropical fruit salad with all the flavors of a vacation instead!” print=”yes” image=”http://www.eighteenalmonds.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_9746-001-150×150.jpg” ingredients=”1 5 oz. container plain Greek yogurt;1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract;2 tbsp. plain unsweetened almond milk;1 pineapple, cored and chopped;1 mango, chopped (or 1 c. frozen, defrosted mango chunks);4 kiwis, chopped;2 bananas, sliced;1/4 c. hazelnuts, toasted and chopped;1/4 c. unsweetened, shredded coconut” ]In the bottom of a large bowl, combine yogurt, vanilla, and almond milk and whisk together to combine.;Add remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix together. ;Garnish as desired with mint or extra chopped nuts.[/lt_recipe]