Salad is such a funny word.

When someone says, “I’ll bring a salad” to a potluck it can mean jello salad, fruit salad, vegetable salad or a main dish item like taco salad. The salad I made today is on the dessert side of the food chart. It’s healthy, light, creamy and a summer staple.

My old church cookbooks list dozens of “salads” with items like mayonaise and tuna in lime jello. Or cottage cheese and Cool Whip with canned fruit. My mother used to make a dessert salad that started with a large package of cherry jello. After the jello molded, she cut it into shreds and then mixed it with ice cream. Very refreshing.

But for today, I was looking at something that would also qualify as a fruit on the wheel of food.
There aren’t any set amounts for this salad. Use your favorite fresh fruits and then add a light and creamy sauce.I try to find fruits with different colors and textures.
Here’s what I made, which will serve 6 – 8 people.

Ingredients
2 bananas, cut
2 TBS sweetened lime juice
8-10 strawberries – cut up
1/2 cup blueberries
1 crisp apple, cut into bite size pieces
1 large orange, peeled and cut up
1 can chunk pineapple – use half the liquid
1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt – I used sugar free and fat free
2 cups light Cool Whip topping
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup coconut

Directions
Simply cut up the fruit and put it into a large bowl. Drizzle the lime juice over the bananas and apples to keep them from turning brown.
Mix in the remaining ingredients and keep it chilled before serving.

Cool, juicy, delectable fruit salad. A delightful summertime dessert.