Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Most of us think of dinner as a hot meal.

It’s a meal that typically includes a meat or a plant-based protein; some kind of grain protein, such as spaghetti, rice or quinoa; a vegetable, and perhaps a dairy — if you add cheese or drink a glass of milk.

When it comes to fruit, on the other hand, that is more easily pictured as morning food, or snack.

Fruit is an easy go-to snack. It requires little or no prep work, aside from peeling it, or rinsing it and perhaps slicing it, if desired.

You have probably taken advantage of this convenience — by grabbing an apple, peach, banana, or pear, while dashing out the door.

But if you are familiar with the MyPlate image, you’ll know that about a quarter of your plate should consist of fruit.

While MyPlate provides a visual guide to help you remember food groups and visualize the portions, some of us don’t get an adequate amount of fruit throughout the day.

If you go to the MyPlate meal planner (MyPlate.gov/myplate-plan), it will give you an estimated amount of how many calories you should consume per day, based on your age, gender, and physical activity levels.

It will then give you a breakdown of how many servings of the five food groups you should get to attain this calorie level.

For most adults, both men and women, the fruit group ranges from 1.5-2 cups per day, depending on age and physical activity level.

If you eat three meals and one snack per day, for example, you’ll want to incorporate fruit as much as you can to reach the recommended cups.

And remember, fresh, frozen, canned, preserved and dried all count toward consumption. (The same goes with vegetables).

So, what counts as a cup?

One medium grapefruit (about 4-inch diameter), one small apple (about 2 ¼-inch diameter), about 8 large strawberries, or 2 halves of canned peaches.

You may be reaching the recommended amount and not even realize it.

Others, however, struggle on most days to get enough fruit in their diet.

Most of us find ourselves eating fruit during breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert — but you can also incorporate fruit in various dishes at dinnertime, too.

Some ideas — that don’t include pineapple pizza — are presented here:

• Throw in chopped apples, sliced strawberries, tangerine segments or sliced kiwi into your salad.
• Pair seafood — such as fish tacos, shrimp or grilled white fish — with mango salsa.
• Slice avocado, which counts as a fruit, to top a burger, fajitas, salads, or even thinly sliced on sushi rolls.
• Use citrus in chilled soups, such as lime soup or lemon-parsley soup (These are especially refreshing on a hot summer day).
• Make meat and fruit kabobs by alternating chunks of meat, as well as sliced peaches, and chunks of mango and pineapple on a skewer to grill. Another variation is pink grapefruit and pork kabobs. (Note: If using wooden skewers be sure to soak them in water for 30 minutes before using, to prevent them from burning.)
• Create a grilled cheese sandwich using cheese, shredded chicken breast and pieces of pineapple between two buttered slices of bread.
• Grill watermelon wedges (triangles) and then flavor them with sweet and salty seasoning, such as sugar, salt, lime zest and red pepper flakes. Grill marks should appear after 2 minutes to 3 minutes on each side.
• Sweeten a traditional tuna salad by adding apple pieces.

By Shari Bresin

Shari Bresin is the Family & Consumer Science agent for the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension Pasco County.

Recipe
This mango salsa recipe is from Colorado State University Extension’s Eating Smart • Being Active curriculum.

Enjoy it on top of seafood, or as a side dish.

Mango salsa:
Makes: 8 servings (2 tablespoons per serving)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 mango, diced (or 1 cup thawed frozen chunks)
1 Tablespoon minced onion (or red onion)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
¼ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons lime juice

Directions

• Wash fresh mango and cilantro.
• Collect, prepare and measure all ingredients before starting to prepare the recipe.
• Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

Enjoy!

• Be sure to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours. Also, this should be consumed within three days to five days after preparation.
• Peach, papaya or avocado may be substituted for mango.

Published May 26, 2021