Fruit salad is an excellent snack food. I enhanced this version with some cashews, chocolate, and a bit of spices. This gives it a full range of flavours, satisfying the need for a sweet snack yet remaining healthy.

Of the ingredients, almost everything is optional, except the oranges, or grapefruit. I dice them first. Their juices keep the other ingredients from browning, or getting soft, in particular the apples. I use apples since they’re a relatively low-cost ingredient. For the other fruits, I improvise with whatever I find — either at the store or in my kitchen. A citrus and apple base complements most fruits nicely.

The cashews and chocolate give this salad added texture. Cashews offer a delightful crunch without the hardness of say almonds — though I use those too sometimes. The chocolate delivers a creamy melt alongside a satisfying crunch. Chocolate combined with fresh fruit is a classic combination that can never go wrong.

Can you use a sweeter chocolate? You can of course modify recipes however you want, but the moment you add a sweetened chocolate here, some of the healthiness goes away. I encourage you to try with the 99% chocolate first. Though a 75, or 80%, chocolate won’t really add enough processed sugar to worry about. For added sweetness I find persimmon to be a great addition, when in season.

The coconut and raisins are completely optional, and I often exclude them. This adds variety to my fruit salads.

Garam masala gives the recipe an extra kick. I use more than listed in the ingredients, but kept the amount low as an introductory amount. I should not, that this is also the spice blend that I make myself, so may taste quite different that prepared mixes — so start small. Alternately, you can add ground cinnamon and star anise for extra flavour without the spicy edge of garam masala.