Happy Fourth of July, y’all! We actually kind of had our holiday dinner yesterday, because Toby had to work both days and Hilary’s husband has to work today. So Matt and Hilary came over yesterday.

When I was deciding what to make for dinner, this was the only thing I was sure I would make. I saw the recipe in Gourmet magazine (RIP) five or six years ago and have made it a billion times since then, including once at Matt and Hilary’s when they lived in Georgia. So I knew they were fans.

Of course, now we all live in Maryland… which has a magical Amish market. And good fruit is really a key to this recipe, so it was perfect. I mean, seriously. Look at those blackberries.

Now, the original recipe only calls for three types of fruit: Blackberries (or cherries), peaches and green grapes. But I started adding strawberries a while back, just to add to the volume. And Toby and I are semi-obsessed with cherries. So I figured I’d throw some of those in as well.

This makes enough for 6-8 people. You need to serve this the day you make it, because the strawberries start to break down pretty quickly in the juices/sugar. The peaches also start to get a little mushy. Of course, I am eating some right now (about 20 hours after making it) and it is still good. It just doesn’t look quite as pretty.

Fruit salad with mint sugar (adapted from Gourmet magazine)
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons sugar
1-2 packages blackberries (or 1 1/2 pounds sweet cherries, pitted and halved)
3 peaches
1 1/2 cups (about half a bag) green grapes
1 pint strawberries
1/2 cup cherries (optional)

Rinse all the fruit. Place the blackberries in a large serving bowl. Cut the peaches into small pieces, leaving the skin on. Halve the grapes. Remove the stems from the strawberries, then cut them into fours. Place all the fruit in the bowl.

Rinse and dry the mint leaves. Place the mint leaves and the sugar in a small food processor. Pulse until leaves are finely ground. Stir to make sure all sugar and mint are combined. Add the mint sugar to the fruit bowl and toss until the sugar is evenly distributed. Let the fruit salad sit for five to 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE 1: I usually use a small food processor to make the mint sugar, but my Ninja blender came with a mini Ninja (also two blades!) so I used that yesterday. I have also tried chopping the mint into small pieces and stirring it into the sugar. All these methods are OK, but the food processor is the best.

NOTE 2: If you need to make this more than an hour or so before you serve it, I would recommend waiting to the add the mint sugar until a few minutes before serving.  You may also want to omit the strawberries, since they break down the fastest.