Fabulous Fruit Salad

"The husband gobbled up three servings! I did as others suggested and went with Key Lime Yoplait NonFat yogurt instead of Lemon, pecans instead of walnuts, seedless green grapes instead of celery, and ..." See moremandarin oranges instead of a nectarine (but only because nectarines aren't in season). I cut up the apples and put the yogurt in right away to keep them turning brown, then put in the grapes. Don't put in the mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, and pecans until right before serving to keep the oranges from disintegrating (stir them carefully) and to keep the cranberries firm and the pecans crunchy. I strained the yogurt with cheesecloth, and I guess I needed to double the cheesecloth again because some of the yogurt went through. (If you don't strain the yogurt, some of the runny liquid accumulates on the bottom of your fruit salad bowl. Truthfully, I wouldn't know since the hubby wolfed it down so fast! :D)"

"I prepared a huges amount of this for a recent holiday open house and it was indeed fabulous! I added green and red grapes and several types of crisp apples. Also mandarin oranges and canned apricot..." See mores (I'll leave those out next time -- too soft). I followed another reader's advice and added the cranberries just before serving. I would suggest you do this with the nuts too if you like chewy and crunchy. The key, I think, is that lemon yogurt. Seems no matter what fruit you use, that yogurt sets it off just right. It reminded me of a wonderfully updated Waldorf salad. There were no kids at my open house, so I have no idea if they would like it -- but I bet they would."

"I also doubled this recipe and took it to Christmas dinner. I used 2 red apples, 2 green apples, a can of mandarine oranges, celery, 1 container each of lemon and vanilla yogurt, and I added the drie..." See mored cranberries and walnuts just before serving to preserve texture and crunch. I received several compliments on the salad, and my husband loved it. (For next time, I will probably strain the yogurts first using a coffee filter, as there was quite an accumulation of liquid at the bottom of the dish.) Very enjoyable salad."