4 Fresh Ideas for Serving More Fruit

Most people don't get enough fruit, especially fresh fruit. There's nothing wrong with cooked, canned, or dehydrated fruit, but fresh fruits are often much more appealing. The average healthy adult should consume at least 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruits per day, along with 2 1/2 to 3 cups of vegetables according to the dietary guidelines for Americans. For many people, the first step to increasing fresh fruit intake is to dump all the candy, cookies, and ice cream you've got in your kitchen right now.  Temper your sweet cravings with delicious fresh fruit. 

Here are four easy ways to help you and your family members eat more fresh fruit. Flip through the slideshow to learn more.

1

Dig Into a Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad
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Fruit salads are a staple at summertime picnics. They can be light and refreshing, or they can be full of extra sugar and fats and higher in calories than you might think. How can you tell? If the fruit is covered with gobs of whipped cream or smothered in sugary syrup, it's probably got a lot of calories from the extra sugar.

A low-calorie fruit salad will be served bare or will have just a light dressing that doesn't overpower the flavor of the fruit. You can also add fruit to a traditional garden salad.

Make a simple lower-calorie fruit salad by combining fresh melon cubes, pineapple chunks, grapes, and strawberries. You can look for more festive fruit salad recipes; just stay away from ingredients that add too many calories or rely on fruits canned in heavy syrup.

2

Keep Fruit on the Counter

Keep a fruit bowl handy to eat more fruit.
Tim Hall / Getty Images

Out of sight is out of mind so don't hide all your fruit in the fridge, keep a few day's worth of fresh fruit on your kitchen counter. That way you'll be tempted to pick up an apple, orange, or pear instead of a candy bar.

Nectarines and bananas also keep well at room temperature for a few days, as long as the peels are still intact.

Just remember to keep the apples away from the bananas, unless you want them to ripen quickly.

3

Make Fruit Smoothies

Make a smoothie to get more fruit in your diet.
LWA / Jay Newman / Getty Images

Enjoy fresh fruit in smoothies. A basic smoothie includes a banana cut into chunks, a cup of berries, a dollop of plain yogurt and a cup of low fat milk or 100% fruit juice. Put everything in a blender for a minute or so and serve. If you have a heavy-duty blender, you can also add some ice cubes for a milkshake-like texture. Once you have this simple recipe down, you can explore more smoothie recipes.

4

Fresh Fruits for Dessert

Eat fresh fruit for dessert.
Riou / Getty Images

Make a simple and delicious dessert by serving a bowl of strawberries and blueberries with a little dollop of whipped cream, topped with a sprinkling of nuts. If you want to eliminate the saturated fat from the whipped cream, you can use plain yogurt instead (Greek yogurt has a wonderfully smooth and creamy texture). When you look for dessert recipes featuring fruit and berries, remember to look for recipes that don't add too much sugar or fat.

By Shereen Lehman, MS
Shereen Lehman, MS, is a former writer for Verywell Fit and Reuters Health. She's a healthcare journalist who writes about healthy eating and offers evidence-based advice for regular people.