LEGENDS OF THE FALL FRUIT SALAD.

Seasonality gets confused in the heat of Southern California, and summer tends to shamelessly bleed its way into both spring and fall. This year has been an especially slow fade into cooler climes (as I write this, it’s still in the mid-80’s), making it difficult to ease into the foods I associate with fall. My nostalgia is craving roasted squashes, soups, and scarves. My body wants popsicles and watermelon.

This fruit salad straddles middle ground, fulfilling my desire for fall flavor and my need to stay cool. Persimmons are typically available in two varieties—fuyu, the type I used here, which can be eaten like an apple, and hachiya, a varietal that must soften completely into a pudding-like texture before being eaten.

Persimmon holds a full-bodied sweetness like sunshine pouring through russet and caramel leaves on an autumn day. Paired with the richness of fig and the tart, bright pop of pomegranate, this fruit salad leaves little missing on the palate frontier. A sprinkle of the best cacao nibs and bee pollen I’ve had in years (from Moon Juice’s new online shop) rounds out the show with crunch and depth.

All of this atop a pillowy bed of tangy, protein-packed Greek yogurt and drizzled with the floral swoon of orange blossom honey. No matter the temperature outside, you’ve reached fall nirvana in mouth and mind.

I’m calling this Legends of the Fall Fruit Salad, just in case Brad Pitt decides to show up. (A girl can dream…)