Catch-your-breath fruit salad - a zingy summer salad with a twist

I love fruit - I always have done. I've got some quirks about what I eat - I prefer peaches crunchy and bananas on the green side; pears need to be crisp, more starchy than juicy. This recipe, though, showcases some of my absolute favourite fruits to eat at their very best. I adore sour flavours, so this is on the sour side, but really light after a rich meal (egg and asparagus preceded this).

I've called it Catch-your-breath fruit salad because the zing really makes you stop and explore the flavours involved. I don't think that it's overpowering, but I do think that you need to get the balance of zinginess to sweetness right.

Here are the ingredients I used - please note that the photo doesn't show quantities:

For the salad:
3/4 of a large honeydew melon (ripe, peeled and cubed into 2-3cm chunks).
3-4 ripe red/purple plums.
1/2 punnet of ripe blueberries (shell out extra for those with big flavour - bland blueberries are very much all mouth and no trousers. Don't buy them.)
A whole pomegranate, seeds lovingly removed into a dish or if you're lazy, over the salad as you make it.
(NOTE: Pomegranate juice stains badly. Please don't wear pale clothes or do near surfaces that can't be wiped clean -- if you're doing on a white worksurface, make sure you've got a decent sized cutting board to avoid alarming red stains. Also consider your company - I am glad I was alone when I made this - I had hands like Lady Macbeth by the end of it!)

For the dressing:
The juice of a lime.
15 large mint leaves, shredded.
A tablespoon of honey (more/less to taste).
Half a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated finely on a microplane if you've got one.

Putting it together:
Cut the melon up, then the plums. Get the pomegranate seeds on as quickly as you can, as I suspect that the acidity does something to prevent discolouration. I also love the way that a pomegranate bleeds all over the white flesh of the melon. Tip over the blueberries (do taste them beforehand to make sure they're adding to it flavour-wise). Then shred the mint, sprinkle on top and toss the lot together.

Now make the dressing. Grate the ginger, juice the lime and beat them together. Taste a tiny bit now to get a feel for how much honey you'll want to add. Get the honey in a bit at a time. I like a squeezy bottle here as it's less faff than doing it spoonful by spoonful. For an extra lime hit, add the zest (no pith!). For the daredevils amongst you, I reckon a finely sliced red chilli would be brilliant here. I shall try that next time.

Add a small drizzle (about a teaspoonful) to a shallow dish of salad and stir through. Add more if you need it. It doesn't take much - too much and you won't taste the melon.

Result: A fresh, light, zingy salad with a mint, lime and ginger hit, but sweetness from the lemon. Sour, crunchy pomegranate jewels and sweet, bursting blueberries set up a textural counterpoint while the plum adds a juicier, chewier sensation and the mild bitterness of the skin works beautifully with all the flavours. Get your spoon in and enjoy.

Pretty colours and lovely flavours - if you don't like ginger and lime, the salad works well like this (above). 

Picture taken after I'd realised that I hadn't yet shown the dressing. I honestly only used a teaspoonful for this helping, and it was plenty. It's not a great picture, but by this point I was no longer focused on getting a decent shot - I just wanted the next mouthful.

Hope you enjoy it!