Summer Fruit Salad

I am so excited by all the fruit that is in season right now. It tastes better, it's easier to find organic options, and it costs a lot less to consume.  My local grocery store had quite the sale on different fruits this week and the only way I thought I'd be able to consume it all was by making a fruit salad.  My sister-in-law makes the best fruit salad and she always brings it to family functions.  This is me trying to mimick it from memory.  I hope I did it justice.

Summer Fruit Salad
Makes: 8 servings
Start to finish: 15 minutes

2 kiwi, sliced
10-12 medium strawberries, sliced (preferably organic)
1 cup seedless red grapes, halved (again, preferably organic)
1 granny smith apple, chopped (not to beat a dead horse or anything)
1 8oz can pineapple chunks, halved
1 16oz can mandarin oranges
1 banana, sliced---if serving immediately
lemon juice to coat

The assembly of this is pretty self explanatory so I won't bore you with pictures of me chopping fruit.  I do want to provide some suggestions/tips though.

The first one is about kiwi.  Is it me or is it fun to say the word kiwi?  This cute little fruit is sort of new to me.  I have tried it here and there but until this summer I had never purchased whole kiwis.  When I finally did get some and got them home, I stared at them a little perplexed.  How was I supposed to get this hard, brissly skin off without destroying the kiwi?  A quick youTube search revealed the answer.  You may be a kiwi master and already know this but I thought it was a pretty nifty trick.

You simply cut off a slice on each end of the kiwi, and then you wedge a spoon between the exposed skin and fruit until the skin just pops off.

 Once you've removed the skin you can slice this guy right up.

Now a little bit on why I chose the fruits I did.  First, I wanted a variety of color.  Green, red, orange, yellow... I wanted it all in there (we eat with our eyes first).  Also, I wanted a balance between tartness and sweetness (hence why I chose a granny smith apple over others for example).  So, as much as it may seem that I just threw this together, it was a very thoughtful process.

Some of these fruits are going to be prone to browning, specifically the apple and the banana so be sure that you coat these in lemon juice before adding them to the salad.  The banana will also have the tendency to get mushy the next day so since I knew I would be eating this for several days, I sliced off a few banana pieces as I ate each serving.

Here is the final product all tossed and ready to be devoured.  Isn't it pretty?  Trust me, it tastes as good as it looks.

Tell me, what are some of your favorite things to put in a fruit salad?