Tuesday, May 12, 2009

.:Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips:.

For the baby shower, we also made fruit salsa with cinnamon and sugar chips. It was equally tasty, and a good complimentary food to the quiche.

For the cinnamon and sugar chips:
- flour tortillas
- cinnamon and sugar mixture
- butter flavored Pam spray

- Spray tortilla with Pam.
- Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture
- Spray Pam over top of mixture
- Cut tortillas into wedges using a pizza cutter
- Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 for 5 minutes

Fruit Salsa

You can really use whatever you want, in whatever quantities you would like. I got this little paragraph from Our Best Bites about the different colors.

Red: Strawberries are my standard because they hold up really well, they're usually inexpensive, and everyone loves strawberries. But watermelon, raspberries or pomegranate seeds would be fun too.

Orange: Mango is my top choice because you all know how much I love mangoes! I usually put in a higher ratio of mangoes to other fruit, but that's just me. Peaches, nectarines, or orange segments would work.

Yellow: Pineapple! Fresh is best, but in a pinch open up a can. I guess nectarines and peaches can also be yellow.

Green: LOVE the bright color and great texture of Kiwi in fruit salsa. There's always honeydew too.

Blue/Purple: I go with price on this one. Blueberries or blackberries, whichever is cheaper! See my note about blackberries below.

She also uses a sweetner, but we didn't and it was just fine. Here is what she had to say about sweetners:

Honey: I love the flavor of honey with fruit. I usually add a little no matter what.

Powdered Sugar: It dissolves fast and gives a light sweetness.

Brown Sugar: Takes longer to dissolve but adds an interesting flavor. Much deeper flavor than white sugar.

Granulated Sugar: What I use the most. It tastes good and makes a nice syrup with the fruit juices. Remember my life lesson about adding sugar?

Agave Nectar: If you want to use an alternative sweetener, you could try Agave Nectar (very low on the glycemic index if that concerns you) or a natural herbal sweetener like Stevia.

She also used some 'extras' - which we again, didn't use. But here is what she said:

You don't want to do all of these together- pick and choose!

Lime Juice: I always add lime juice. Just a few big squeezes. The fruit will give off a lot of juice so you don't want to add too much additional liquid, but a few squeezes of tangy lime juice adds a great flavor and makes it nice and tropical tasting.

Cinnamon: A few dashes of cinnamon goes great with the cinnamon chips.

Mint: I love a little chopped fresh mint in my fruit salsa. It reminds me of cilantro in regular salsa and makes everything so fresh tasting. But beware, a little goes a long way and if you add too much it will really overpower the taste of your yummy fruit. My husband hates it when I put mint in- he thinks it ruins the salsa and tastes disgusting, so you may want to go sparingly on that one!

Coconut: shredded coconut is especially yummy when you have tropical fruits like pineapple and mango in your salsa. Sprinkle some on top or stir it in, but either way do it just before serving or it will get all soggy.

Toasted Coconut: If you're taking this to a party, then add some toasted coconut on top for great presentation. People will go wild over it!

Ginger: I'm adding this from Kate's suggestion in the comment section. Great thinking! A little fresh ginger would be great. A little will go a long way. P.S. ginger + coconut = yum.

We made the salsa the day before, and let it chill overnite. It wasn't too soggy, but I probably wouldn't do it for too long beforehand.

Tasty, and semi-healthy with all of the fruit, especially if you don't add any sweetners and extras!

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