OOooo lala figured I’d do a sexy recipe just in time for the weekend! So let me explain the title of this recipe: I find fruits like figs, plums, blueberries, very sensual. Sensual in the sense of their color, texture, apperance — I mean come on, figs? They are sexy!
Now just because it’s called a sensuous fruit salad doesn’t mean it’s strictly for lovers. I am sure friends and family would enjoy it too, just don’t be too sexy when serving it (they might think you’re really weird).
The recipe showcases simplicity at its best — there is literally no other ingredients than the fruit itself. I think it is really important for any cook to learn how to pick good quality produce — that way the ingredient can showcase its beauty on its own. So today, I will give you a few tips on how to pick summer produce.
How to pick Brown Turkish Figs:
- Look at the color — a ripe turkish fig should have a brownish yellow skin with purple hues
- Ripe figs are soft to the touch, similar to a ripe peach. The skin is very thin and can even crack due to the plump juicy flesh within.
- Look underneath the fig, do you see droplets of “syrup” collecting around the eye? That is a sure tell-tale sign you’ve picked a sweet fig.
How to pick Plums:
- I always use my nose when picking plums. Smell at the top of the plum, where it was picked — if the scent is very fragrant and sweet it is a winner for sure. If you don’t smell nothin…put it back.
- Depending on the type of plum you are buying, pick colors that are rich in dark purples (almost black) and reds.
- Feel the plum, if it is rock hard it’s not ready yet. It should be plump and soft, the flesh should slightly sink with the pressure from your fingers.
How to pick Melons:
- Use your nose again! Same rule of thumb with plums, smell at the top of the melon where it was picked. Remember: fragrant and sweet smells!
- Thump the mellon — if it sounds nice and dense it is packed with juice. Also if the belly of the melon is yellow that is another sign it is ripe.
- Make sure the outerskin is nice and firm, any soft spots on a melon is a no go.
How to pick Blueberries:
- Pick berries that are not smushed and are rich in blue/purplish hues. Avoid blueberries that look red or even white — those are definitely NOT RIPE.
- Blueberries that are large in size are usually very sweet, avoid eating any blueberries that feel very hard — they are very sour!
Ingredients for Sensuous Fruit Salad: (serves 2-4)
- 6 brown turkey figs, washed and quartered
- 1 cup blueberries, washed
- 1 cup melon balls
- 3 black plums, washed pitted and quartered
Gentle mix all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Serve chilled with some vanilla ice cream or eat it plain. For those who want more sweetness, feel free to drizzle some honey on top!
So below are some pictures of our new home — please excuse the mess and random assortment of furniture scattered around. There’s still much to be done but we are getting close 
!!!
My mom will actually be staying with us mid August until…well whenever she feels like leaving. Hopefully NEVER…but in reality probably a month…or two? *keeping fingers crossed* Then she will be moving to Shanghai permanently to enjoy retirement and to be closer to her hubby and family. Once she moves in a lot of recipes I’ll be featuring on here will probably be the meals she teaches me to cook — I’ve asked her to teach me everything she knows before she leaves!
The End. Have a great weekend yall !
This really is a gorgeous fruit salad… like the nontraditional inclusion of the figs. They are a fantastic fruit and so under used (unless wrapped with bacon… which isn’t a bad thing). I bet this would be wonderful with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of brown sugar on top. In fact, I think I’ll have to try that!
I love those dark, sensuos fruits. I almost picked up some figs yesterday because they were so beautiful. Oh, and the house is looking great!! You guys are really working your booties off! Enjoy your mom’s stay. I can’t wait to see what you two cook up!
oooo, what a delicious fruit salad. so beautiful and juicy with so many luscious flavors! the house is looking fantastic – i love the dark slate. good luck!
I found figs for the first time this summer at the farmers market last weekend. I was so excited, I ate like 3-4 on the way home. They didn’t really make it into anything – I just munched on them all weekend. This salad IS sexy! Woohoo! Sounds great. Your house looks amazing.
I am such a fruit lover – I love the fruit combination of your salad. I am going to try it. Thanks for sharing your post and good luck with your house and your mom’s stay.
I had a fresh-picked fig yesterday and it was heaven. I’d like to know where to find figs (other than off trees or shrubs or wherever they come from) because I never see them at my neighborhood grocery.
Any tips, Joy?
It is great you finally have walls
Great salad. I so admire your images.
Great pictures and a great idea for a salad!
This is not your typical fruit salad. I love those figs!
One of the things you usually don’t feel like doing when you move is cook. That’s when a light, summer salad is perfect. Full of fruits and flavors!
Your fruit salad is a beautiful medley of colors–love it. Thanks for the tips on buying melon. I seem to have the most trouble with them.
Beautiful home! I’m partial to hardwood floors (have them too) and you bathroom is nicely designed.
heavenly salad !have a lot of happiness in your beautiful home!
OK after seeing your pictures, figs are sexy.
I love your new hands free sink!
Oh my oh my, girl! You still have lots to work out. Guess, more furnitures coming in soon huh! Can’t wait to see you bedroom. haha…. Am I crazy or what? haha…. Btw, I think you need a bigger closet honey! Your new house looks incredible even without the furnitures and should be stunning after furnishing. Lovely lovely! Can’t wait to see how’s the decorations going to be! The best of all is your mom will be here sooooon. Really really soon. Hope you’re having a great time right now.
Blessings, Kristy
Awesome! The place looks seriously great
And the fruit salad is indeed sexy 
Phew!!! These fruits look delicious. They certainly taste good and good for fibre. Yummmmm.
http://www.issuesoflife.wordpress.com
And here I thought my fruit salad was the bomb with some black and red plums and black grapes.
http://lenanozizwe.wordpress.com
The pics are nice.. The fruits looks luscious.. Straight to be eaten kinds..
Congratulations..
Wow….the pictures make me drool!! And I have to say, I am addicted to fruit! I think I go through 3 bunches of bananas a week!! Yes I said 3 BUNCHES!!!!!
Great tips!
-Noor
http://noor724.wordpress.com/
Beautiful photos and fabulous fresh fruit! You’re a bit of a tease, yeah?
that plum looks amazing… well the fruit salad in general does.
Thanks for the idea of the fruit salad..different! I never would have done quite that mixture! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
evelyngarone.com
exquisite, sensuous fruit salad
very nice
The pictures you have chosen to use in this particular post ‘do’ make fruit very sexy.
I appreciate you promoting a sense of health through fruit, even if it’s unintentional.
With Love and Gratitude,
The Intentional Sage
[...] the original post: A Sensuous Fruit Salad Share and [...]
Beautiful fruit photos.. My mouth is watering.
Love the fruit salad and absolutely love your all’s new place? Wood floors have always been a favorite of mine, I wouldn’t trade them for anything! Especially with our dogs! They would just ruin carpet lol
Your pics of the fruit salad should be in some culinary mag somewhere- amazing!!!
Thanks for the fruit picking tips and it is a very different looking fruit salad that I’ll be sure to try. Different is good!
Wow…that was quite the fruit salad…Looks tasty!
Those fruit salads sound very nutritious.
Sensuous Fruit Salad: I finally gathered all the fruit, made a salad, drizzled honey over it and served it to my husband. What a treat and he loved it!!!
Those plums looks delicious.
i LOVE your take on fruit. So refreshing. And your right…figs are sexy! haha!
and it sounds like an extra tasty treat for this extreme heat. Thanks for the post!
I love your picture quality on your food! All of it looks like it’s done professionally!
And thanks for the tips on picking fresh fruit! I’ve never tried a fresh fig before, so it’s good to know the signs of how to figure out whether one is ripe or not.
Good trip.I like fruit salad.Thank for share.
http://www.sanukyogamat.com
Seriously wonderful pictures. I don’t like figs. But those pictures could change my mind…
Yum
Cheers, Niconica
http://niconica.wordpress.com
Mmmh,…I never thought of fruit as sensual. However, coupled with the title and the photo of the red fruit at the top, I can see how fruit could be sensual. I will never think of fruit as the same. Interesting idea for a post.
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
I’ve never actually had figs… EVER. But I think you’ve inspired me to look for some at the local farmer’s market this weekend!
Your photos and recipes were beautiful as well. Lovely colours on the food and the slate and wooden floors in your new home are fabulous. Totally jealous about the closet full of shoes too, by the way.
Best of luck on the new place and keep up the sexy recipes!
Natina
http://crosswordcharlie.wordpress.com/
You cracked me up about serving this fruit salad to your friends and family! “They might think you’re really weird!”
Sounds delicious!
And I love your home! Beautiful. Just have to wait on that dishwasher!
This is way, way beautiful – I can’t wait to make it. Photos are over the top. Happy new home. Cheers and thanks for the fruit.
I like Fruit Salad.
yummy!
Beautiful pics as usual and I love the inclusion of figs in your fruit salad.
Your house looks lovely – I’m particularly envious of the dark slate floor!
I love the fruit salad, its simplicity and the tips you gave for picking up fruits. Indeed looks sensuous and delicious. Great pics too!
You can also add some fresh mint leaves to it for a bit of a fresh flavor.
Good luck with your place.
I love this post. The way you describe how to pick the fruit and your pictures are always stunning. Love!
Chow for now.
gooooood fruit! The plums are just like the ones I would sneak off my neighbors tree when I was a kid..lol…soooo very good! Like the house too.
Beautiful photos!
Wow.It’s new menu.I will try to do.I think ,it’s yummy.
I love your shower and this fruit salad makes me reaaaaally hungry! It looks so absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing the idea and the photos!
Best wishes,
geradinemcc
That fruit is just lovely!
Another tip for choosing great blueberries is to make sure to shake them! Often, there will be a bit of fuzzy mold in the middle of the bunch and they will clump. If they shake freely, you’re good to go!
Those pictures are beautiful! I’ll make sure to try it out someday
Figs are the porn stars of the fruit bowl! A nice blog.
hey, that looks so sumptuous ! and i love your bathroom! cool!
what a perfect fruit salad….I have to revisit figs , its been so long since I tasted one! Congrats on the top 9!
Lovely salad
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm looks yummy! I love fruit salad!
Joy, This salad loos wonderful!! I love figs, but it’s hard to find them around here…too bad.
Your kitchen looks absolutely beautiful! It must be exciting to see it’s all coming together!
Ooh that sounds delicious! Great pictures too!
http://sylviangirl.wordpress.com/
Yummy.I see it.I’m hungry.
I cannot get really good fresh figs where I live, but have had them fresh off the fig tree and OMG… a little bit of heaven.. Beautiful salad and photography.
Congrats on being freshly pressed!
The fruit looks wonderful.
The fruit looks so good you could reach in and get it.
The fruit looks delicious, & I’m starving here at work!
PS. love the shoe closet, I just bought shelves for all my shoes too!
All those beautiful fruit pictures, and what really struck me was how high those heels were!
Wonderful food photography. Almost but not quite obscene, which is perfect.
I’m almost embarassed to say I have never even seen a fig! Now I must try one! It goes on the bucket list! Lol! Salad looks awesome! I’m sensing lite cool whip in my near future!
I’ve tried hard to keep quiet about this freshly pressed when I logged in and out today, but that plum and all the comments about this being, “sexy,” “tasty,” “delicious,” “wink face” etc, is awkward. The recipe is cool, and I’d try it, but goodness one of the ingredients is “melon balls!” Balls? Hey, these days, sensual mostly means sexual. I know you say sensual as in sense, but then you turned around and say it’s sexy! I am NOT bashing the post – the salad looks awesome and I’d make it, but the plum…with the red liquid and the hole and all the comments (“figs are the porn stars of the fruit bowl”)- weird. REALLY hilarious, but just weird.
I love figs so much that they have never made it into a fruit salad. I eat them much too quickly. This salad looks amazing. I’m going to try very hard to save some figs to make it soon!
Wow! My mouth is watering! Thanks for sharing.
verry nice salad
This salad is stunning looking and sound delish!
Love how your house is coming along! It looks like an incredible place.
Now this is what I call a fruit salad, one that is full of different textures and flavors. I love figs!
This is inspirational – your photographs are superb and the dishes look delish, can’t wait to try! Thanks for sharing!
Some pretty good fruits they are.. you remind me once again the importance of content (over presentation)
Hi, Congrats …you have a lovely blog. Food is
also one of my interests and I love blueberries too.
Do visit my recipe blog when you have the time
its at
http://rodas-recipes.blogspot.com.
by the way I love the way everything is in pictures
[...] the heat…. the humid, hot, sticky southern heat) so for snack, we’re joining Joylicious for a cup of her Sensuous Fruit Salad. The coconut just took this to a whole new level for me. [...]
stunning photographs. they are so well clicked that my mouth started watering! amazing recipe.!! thanks..
Joylicious
The salad looks beautiful and your photos are fabulous. Now I’m going out to buy some figs!
Congratulations on being fresh pressed too.
nice!!
Very nice!!
You’ve definitely convinced me…fruit salads can definitely be sexy ;]
And I’m similar to the food obsession thing you have, ahah, I fall asleep to planning my breakfasts.
As the wiggles say in their song….FRUIT SALAD!…..YUMMY, YUMMY.
Really nice pictures of the fruit and how you choose it. Very well written.
http://dezigner356.wordpress.com
I don’t remember how I came across your blog but I’m enjoying reading it. I also live in Texas too. I’m about 40 miles North of Dallas!
Being too sexy to serve this salad…..this is exactly what I would do for fun!!! hahahaha……yes, I’m weird!
I do agree with you about the sexy aspect of these fruit! I would also add raspberry which is like a young sexy lady with super red lips!
BTW, I didnt realized you were moving too. how was it going? mine was too close get me killed. but eventually everything seems to be settled down.
Can you give me the salad’s mobile number, I have to wink at it through the phone.
Boy, does that salad look good. I don’t know when it started, but for several years, now we just can’t get ripe fruit. Peaches, nectarines, plums and other imported fruits are either hard, or spongey. We have local blueberries, and the apples, bananas and oranges are always good–but a fruit salad with ripe figs and plums–wow, I can only imagine…
Gorgeous fruit salad!
I love figs! One of the grocery store items I miss most about Europe is their fig yogurt. You don’t find that very often in the US.
nice post and the fruit salad looks delicious…
Your fruit pictures are gorgeous!!! When you’ve got a good eye for photography, you can’t go wrong with those colorful fruits…We don’t grow figs in my side of the world; I’ve no idea how it tastes like…On your closet, those are really high heels ; ) Happy organizing!
Nice. Thanks for those tips.
i like your house and salad also……
did you ever try dry figs?
Nice pictures, a very good job! congratulations!
Beautiful, “sensual” fruit photos! How fun to see photos of your renovations. We have torn our house apart top to bottom – it feels great when it’s done but the process can be crazy. Hope you are well, Joy!
Interesting take! I really enjoyed reading it! Plus I picked up some blogging tips from my visit here.
Ed
Man I don’t think I’ve ever tried turkey figs… as a health nut I should look into these. Thanks and awesome photography!
http://www.thecooldown.wordpress.com
[...] “There’s absolutely nothing sexual about these photos,” he said with a great degree of sarcasm. Via A Sensuous Fruit Salad «. [...]
Figs are sensual all right. Ripe and sweet. Awesome salad!
OOO! I loved that post! And, I am so excited for the new place! How much fun… congrats!
Enjoy your new home
…so much to look forward to.
[...] People call food writing food porn, and just last week on Freshly Pressed there was a blog about how sensual fruit salad is, so I just put two and two together. I’m sorry. Won’t happen [...]
[...] People call food writing food porn, and just last week on Freshly Pressed there was a blog about how sensual fruit salad is, so I just put two and two together. I’m sorry. Won’t happen [...]
Very nice, but the BEST thing is the single sink! I designed our kitchen and remodeled three years ago. Everyone I came in contact with questioned my choice of a large single sink, but it is absolutely the best!
Jean i completely agree!!! Its easier to clean that’s for sure, we made the right choice
[...] http://joylicious.net/2010/07/22/a-sensuous-fruit-salad/ [...]
I have made this salad several times now, and it has always been a hit. In order to use local and in season fruits, I’ve had to do a few variations: small red grapes instead of blueberries, other kinds of figs, and/or cantaloupe rather than honeydew. It always comes out splendidly.