Creamy Fruit Salad

I love it when people ask me for ideas for recipes. That's exactly what happened here. One of my co-workers was looking for something to take to a barbeque. We started talking about it, and I said, "What about - oh, hey, how about - what if, Ooh, yeah!" And that's how this recipe was born. As fate would have it, this also fit the bill perfectly for my own gathering this weekend.

Because I love to cook and create in the kitchen, the easiest way to offend me is to ask me to bring a fruit tray, vegetable tray or green salad to a potluck. Give that duty to someone who hates cooking or isn't good at it. This weekend I was asked to bring "fruit." My disdain must have been written all over my face, because my BF followed up with, "The only specfication is there is no specification, so you can create whatever you want with fruit."

Gold mine! Now you're speaking my language. Thank you for not offending me.

So, this was born out of my little brain, coupled with a conversation with a co-worker.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain, unsweetened coconut yogurt (or plain, unsweetened yogurt of choice)
2-3 T honey, depending on desired sweetness
1 T. lemon juice
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 T. chia seeds
4 cups cut fresh fruit - I suggest berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.), pineapple, grapes, pears, kiwis or any other fruit you like
2 T. unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine yogurt, honey, lemon juice, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk well to combine. Add chia seeds, whisk well, and let stand for 10 minutes.

Combine fruit in a large mixing bowl and toss. Sprinkle coconut over top, and toss again to incorporate. Drizzle dressing over fruit and toss again until fruit is coated. Be sure to toss gently so as not to break up the more delicate fruits, like raspberries.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve. Note: This doesn't keep well long-term, so I don't recommend making it very long in advance. The fruit gets a little mushy. Still tasty, but you lose some of the crispness of the fruit.