By Fifteen weeks and visibly pregnant now, which changes the way strangers interact with me in the grocery store and at school supply shopping, which I have been doing for the fall semester. People say congratulations and touch their own stomachs sympathetically and ask when I am due and I say November and they say oh you will be so big by then and I say yes that is typically how it works. The people in my life are kinder about it.
Babcia Rose called Tuesday and asked if I was eating enough. I said yes. She asked what I was eating. I said a lot of things. She asked if I was eating kielbasa. I said not specifically. She said I should eat kielbasa. She says this to most problems and I love her for it. I made kielbasa and sauerkraut that evening and called to report and she said good. I said Babcia Rose you are going to be a great-grandmother. She was quiet for a moment and said she knew. She said she had been planning for it. I said I know. She said: eat the kielbasa. I said yes Babcia Rose.
Summer cooking has adjusted to the pregnancy in ways I did not anticipate: certain smells are still problematic (onions cooking in oil is the main one, which is extremely inconvenient given what I cook), certain textures are unappealing in waves, and I am very interested in cold things and acidic things. I have been eating fruit with chili salt — watermelon and Tajin is a daily thing. I have been making agua fresca, which is blended fruit and water and a little lime, which costs almost nothing and which Ryan has also adopted as his summer drink. I put it on the blog as a pregnancy revelation but it is genuinely for everyone.
School starts in six weeks. I am figuring out how to manage a school year while pregnant and the answer is: the same way you manage everything while pregnant, which is carefully and with a lot of crackers in your desk drawer.
The watermelon and Tajin has been a daily ritual, and the agua fresca has become a household staple, but when I wanted something I could actually put in a bowl and sit with — something cold and tart and a little sweet that didn’t require cooking anything that smelled like onions — this lime honey fruit salad was the answer. It’s the same instinct: acid, cold, fruit, done. Babcia Rose would probably tell me to eat kielbasa instead, but she would also, I think, eat a second bowl of this.
Lime Honey Fruit Salad
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 cups watermelon, cubed
- 1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup pineapple chunks (fresh or canned in juice, drained)
- 1 cup red grapes, halved
- 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- Fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the fresh lime juice, honey, and lime zest until the honey is fully dissolved. Set aside.
- Prepare the fruit. Wash and cut all fruit into bite-sized pieces. Add the watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, grapes, and kiwi to a large serving bowl.
- Dress the salad. Drizzle the lime honey dressing over the fruit and gently toss to coat everything evenly. Taste and add a little more honey or lime juice as needed.
- Chill and serve. Serve immediately for the freshest texture, or refrigerate for up to 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 25g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 5mg