This Is the Ultimate Summer Fruit Salad

Adapt this fruit salad to what's fresh, cheap, and to your taste, aiming for as diverse a mix of fruit as you can. (Kevin Revolinski)

Schools are out and temperatures are rising, and that fruit section at the grocery is starting to blossom. The price of peaches starts to inch its way down, and when cherries hit $3 a pound, we start buying bags of them like toilet paper in a pandemic.

When one hears stone fruit, I think most of us think of peaches, nectarines, plums, and maybe apricots. But don’t forget cherries, mangos, or pluots (a cross between a plum and an apricot). I aim for as diverse a mix as I can get at the grocery store or farmers market. But if there are no plums, for instance, I merely increase the amount of something else. Flexible and easy-going is the summer salad vibe. No one’s going to protest if some plump blueberries end up in it instead of stone fruit.

Choosing the Fruits

Look for the heavier, nicely rounded fruits. While you’re looking for vibrant colors, don’t get too hung up on imperfections—it’s all going to be cut up anyway. It should smell fresh and fruity. Keep looking to see if there is any whiff of fermentation. Don’t choose a peach that’s still as hard as a rock; it should have the tiniest bit of give to it. Mushy is a no-go, but a bit soft might be OK if you are making the salad the same day. Too soft, and you might make a mush of it as you grasp the two halves to pull them off the pit.

Peaches, apricots, plums, and nectarines can be stored stem-down; don’t refrigerate them if they still need to ripen a tiny bit. But if the fruit is ready and you’re not, keep them in the crisper to slow that ripening.

Mangos are red and green but start showing yellow as they ripen. Feel for a bit of give here, too. The Ataulfo mangos start greenish and turn to a warm yellow when ready. Cherries should be bright and firm with their stems still on.

When fruits aren’t ripe at the same time, speed them up by putting them in a bag with a browning banana. The ethylene gas being produced by the overripe banana speeds up the process for the rest of the fruit.

Prep ‘Em

Wash all the fruits well. Cutting them up is a cinch, as none of them need to be peeled except the mango. I use a sharp knife to cut the fruit from top to bottom, then roll it under the blade to cut the other side. Then, you can pull the halves apart and cut them into bite-sized pieces or slices.

Though so much smaller, cherries work the same way. Pull off the stems and then pit them with that same cut: Place the knife blade on the side of the cherry, lined up from top to bottom, and roll the cherry forward to cut the flesh in half. Don’t press hard enough to crack the pit, though. Pull the halves apart carefully and work the pit out. You might want gloves to avoid finger-staining. A cherry pitter is a useful tool if you plan to do this often. The pitter also works for olives, if you don’t like purchasing single-purpose kitchen tools!

Beyond the Fruit

Fresh mozzarella cheese, with its milky mildness, works great here. Mozzarella “pearls”—about the size of large blueberries—are perfect because you won’t need to cut or tear them. But any sort of fresh mozzarella works, as you will reduce the large ball to torn, bite-sized pieces. The award-winning BelGioioso, based in Wisconsin, specializes in Italian-style cheeses, and is widely available if you don’t have a local favorite for mozzarella. And they do make the pearls.

Many recipes call for honey or even maple syrup to sweeten the salad, but the fruit should be allowed to shine here. If you have a mediocre fruit or it’s just a tiny bit shy of the fully ripened sweetness, I add a very modest sprinkling of sugar. Those crystals also pull some of the juice into the bowl to add to the dressing.

Some olive oil brings an earthy flavor and a bit of mouthfeel. Balance the sweet with a bit of tang by adding lemon or lime juice (freshly squeezed; the bottled variety is a poor substitute). Lately, I’ve been adding a tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar for an even richer, tangier flavor. Finally, fresh basil gives a nice herbal touch, and mint really freshens up the bowl.

Leftovers will get soft and messy in a day or two in the fridge, but I doubt you’ll have any.

Stone Fruit Summer Salad

Serves 4 to 6

• 2 peaches
• 2 nectarines
• 2 plums
• 12 cherries, pitted and halved
• 1 mango (Ataulfo recommended)
• 6 leaves fresh basil
• 2 sprigs fresh mint
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (optional)
• A sprinkling of sugar to taste
• A drizzle of honey or maple syrup (optional)
• 4 to 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, pearls, halved cherry-sized pieces, or bite-sized pieces torn from a mozzarella ball

Using fresh, ripe fruits, cut each in half and remove the pit. Remove the skin from the mango. Cut the cherries in half and the rest of the fruits into bite-sized pieces. Mix it all in a serving bowl.

Tear the basil and mint leaves into thumbnail-sized pieces and add to the bowl along with the olive oil, lemon juice, and white balsamic vinegar, if using. Mix carefully so as to avoid bruising the fruit too much.

Taste-test it, and if it isn’t sweet enough, sprinkle sugar conservatively before mixing and testing again. Alternatively, you can use honey or maple syrup to sweeten. On the other hand, if the fruit is too sweet, adjust with the lemon and vinegar.

Now stir in the small pieces of mozzarella cheese. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.