KIWI FRUIT SALAD

KIWI FRUIT SALAD
Tender sweet fruits from New Zealand arranged on salad plates with banana and fresh sliced strawberries. Drizzled with a special maple, rum and lime dressing!
Serves 4

3 T. maple syrup (Grade A dark amber)
1 T. dark rum
1 T. fresh lime juice (fresh is a must)
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch thick rounds
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced from tip to tip into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 cup sliced bananas, 1/4 inch thick rounds

In small bowl combine maple syrup, rum and lime juice. Stir with fork or chopstick till thoroughly blended.

On each of four salad plates arrange 3 rows of fruit: 1 row of kiwi, 1 row of strawberry slices and 1 row of banana slices. Put strawberries in the middle for good color contrast. In each row that should extend across the salad plate, overlap the fruit slightly, but keep the rows themselves separate.

Over each salad drizzle approximately 1 tablespoon of dressing. Serve at once.

Notes: In case you’re inquiring, there are reasons for separating the fruits on the plates: tossing traumatizes these delicate fruits; separating them creates a brilliant color contrast; and I wanted you to taste each fruit alone with the dressing, in order to experience the subtle taste differentiation between the fruits with the dressing–a taste testing, if you will.

The rum imparts a strong flavor to the dressing when tasted alone, but once on the fruit, it melds with each fruit to create an impressive miracle of flavors!