Margarita Tropical Fruit Salad

So, last weekend it snowed in New Hampshire, and this weekend it’s been 95°F all weekend. Hilarious. I don’t handle the heat well, if at all, nor do I handle the crazy freaking changes well. The humidity and corresponding air quality in New Hampshire has been known to send me right into an asthma attack. We’ve got the air conditioners cranked, but I don’t want to heat the apartment up any more than necessary, so we’ve been eating salads and fruit. And since it’s the time of year that you might be heading to potluck type gatherings, here’s a spruced up fruit salad you can take with you. Also, this can be made much much easier by doing what I did and buying a fruit tray and some berries and using it, so you don’t have to peel melons and pineapple. You can do it the night before and let the dressing soak in, but it’s yummy either way.

Margarita Tropical Fruit Salad

• 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice (about 4-5 limes)
• 1/2 cup of agave syrup
• 1/2 cup of tequila
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of arrowroot
• 2 Tablespoons of water
• About 6-8 cups of fruit cut in bite size pieces, filling a large salad bowl.  The mixture is up to you, but I used cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

First, wash your limes carefully under hot water to get rid of the wax they put on them. To get the  most juice out of them, I’ve found two tips that really help. Put your limes in a microwave safe container and nuke them on high for one minute.

Then put them on a cutting board, and using the palm of your hand roll the limes back and forth, putting enough pressure on them so that you can feel the lime squeeze against the board, but not enough so you break the lime against the cutting board. Now juice your limes.

Make sure you don’t have any seeds in with the lime juice and pour it into a sauce pan. Add the agave syrup and the tequila to the sauce pan, mix until thoroughly combined, and then bring it to a boil for about two minutes. Turn the heat to low, and in a small container (I used a glass measuring cup) mix the arrowroot and water together. Pour the water and arrowroot mixture into the sauce pan, stirring quickly so that it doesn’t clump. Turn to medium low heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes or so, and then remove from the heat.

When the agave lime tequila dressing has cooled (you can cheat by sticking it the freezer for a few minutes if you need to),  pour it over the cut fruit and toss to combine.  Enjoy!!