The perfect fresh fruit snack for folks who’d rather eat cheese is simple to make and endlessly customizable.
Eager to get cooking? Skip To Recipe Here or read on for some insight into what makes this snack so stellar for the sweet-averse.
I was a hungry child. I was hungry for food and hungry often, not due to scarcity—food and love were thankfully abundant in my family—but because my stomach was a bottomless pit, and my mouth was genetically prepossessed to relish almost everything it was given.
When I would mooch around the kitchen after school in search of a snack, my mother’s constant refrain was, “Have a banana.” As if anyone actually wants a banana and then eats one. Who are these banana freaks? Who wants fruit as a snack? I was a normal child, not some sugar-fiend fruit fanatic, and I wanted to gnaw on a large chunk of cold sharp cheddar in front of the open fridge. Like a Normal.
But I’ve come to crave fruit more as I’ve gotten older. Chalk it up to changing tastes and a desire to better sustain my aging body. The better the fruit, the more my tastebuds rejoice, but I still prefer my fruits with a bit of savory. Otherwise, the fruit feels a bit too virtuous, a bit too sweet, a bit too…”have a banana.”
While yogurt is an excellent topping for fruit, I find it a bit…yogurty after a while—a bit boring. Everyone eats yogurt and fruit. Are we everyone? Are you? No. We’re unconventional. We eat ricotta. We pair fruit with toast. Whoa.
Ricotta found its way to my fruit bowl about a month ago, a happy accident that arose from not making the Zuni-inspired ricotta gnocchi I had planned for dinner. Two pints of ricotta needed using and I’d just bought a gorgeous, not-too-sweet, juicy-crisp yellow watermelon from the World Hunger Relief stand at the Waco Downtown Farmers Market. The result was this breakfast snack which, like many of my recipes, is really just a jumping off point for you to do as you please. Swap out the fruits, use granola or a savory seed mix instead of croutons, top it with your favorite cereal—it’s up to you.
Savory Ricotta Fruit Bowl
Ingredients
1 cup fresh fruit, cut into rough chunks (I used yellow watermelon)
2-4 tablespoons whole milk ricotta or whole milk cottage cheese
1 heaping tablespoon honey (I used unfiltered Texas wildflower honey)
1 piece of toast, cut or torn into bite-sized pieces OR 1/2 c granola, seed mix, nut mix, or cereal
sprinkle of salt (optional)
sprinkle of sharp cheese such as cheddar, pecorino, or parmesan
Instructions
If using croutons, beging by toasting a piece of bread with or without butter, olive oil, or a sprinkle of sharp grated cheese (cheddar, parmesan, pecorino). Cut up the bread into bite size pieces and set aside.
Place fruit in a medium-size bowl, then top with croutons, granola, or other crunchy topping. Add a dollop of ricotta, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with salt, and enjoy.
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