Fruit Salad

Chimayó is known for its apples, but other fruit flourishes also in the town and surrounding valley. Peach, apricot, cherry, and plum trees, planted originally by Spanish colonists, dot orchards throughout the area, their fruits ripening fragrantly with the summer’s warm sun. The restaurant also uses other local New Mexican fruit, such as melons and raspberries, in its summer salads, occasionally adding tropical varieties more common to Mexico. This simple salad is at its best when it combines several fruits at their peak of flavor.

9 cups mixed fresh fruit and berries (at least three kinds)

Sugar

3 cups vanilla yogurt, cottage cheese, fruit-flavored sorbet or sherbet, or vanilla or fruit-flavored ice cream

Lettuce leaves, optional

Serves 6

1. Cut any large fruit like honeydew melon or cantaloupe into bite-size chunks. Halve smaller fruit such as strawberries or cherries. Mix fruit together in a large bowl and add sugar, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, as needed to enhance the fruit flavors. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour for the fruit juices to flow and the flavors to meld.

2. Spoon about 1½ cups of the fruit mixture onto individual plates. Add ½ cup of yogurt, cottage cheese, sherbet, or ice cream to each plate of fruit. Garnish with lettuce leaves if you wish.

Ahead-of-time note: Most fruits can be combined and refrigerated up to 6 hours ahead. Berries, whether raspberries, blueberries, or sliced strawberries, are more fragile, so they should be added within 1 hour of serving. If apples are among your chosen ingredients, don’t cut them into chunks until just before serving time to avoid possible discoloration. Apples may be pared, but leaving the red or green peel will add to the salad’s bright hues.