Recipe: Strawberry-Sauced Crunchy Fruit Salad or Trifle

Fourth of July Fun Foods Continued…..

Mid June I thought I’d start giving my readers a few ideas for low fat and /or low calorie fun and festive recipes to help make this Independence Day a little bit cooler.   So far, I posted a recipe for Independence Day Sundaes, Red, White & Bleu Slaw  and now have another fun sweet treat for you.

Strawberry-Sauced Crunchy Fruit Salad or Trifle Recipe

Picture of Fruit Salad Fruit Trifle

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups of crispy rice cereal

• 1½ cups of chopped hazelnuts

• ¾ cup packed brown sugar

• ½ cup margarine, melted

• 1 lb. fresh or frozen sliced strawberries

• 1/3 cup orange juice

• 2 Tbsp. of confectioners’ sugar

• 1 Tbsp. of vanilla sugar

• 2 Red Delicious apples, cored and diced

• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced

• 4 seedless oranges, peeled and diced

• 1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place rice cereal and hazelnuts into baking pan. Stir in brown sugar and melted margarine. Bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasty. Set aside. In blender or food processor, mix strawberries, orange juice, and both sugars. Puree until smooth. Set aside.

To make the salad, toss the red, green, and yellow apples with oranges and pineapple in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with the nut crunch, then spoon strawberry sauce over the top.

To make a trifle, pour strawberry sauce into the center of a trifle dish or large glass bowl. Cut all apples into thin slices, then place pineapple, apples, and oranges into bowl in alternating layers. Sprinkle nut crunch over the top.

Makes approximately 8 servings.