thanksgiving leftovers reincarnated: palm springs fruit salad with turkey

If you've got a well-insulated home and you don't mind a cold meal in the winter, then this is the one for you! I wanted to do something creative with our turkey leftovers (though still have some in a bag in the freezer and will probably make a traditional soup with it later). Recently at Costco they started selling dates, my friend Kim sent me some of her homemade candied ginger just the other day, I have mint growing on my balcony, and I had plenty of fresh fruit in the fridge that I needed to use, so it all worked together really well. The Mariani dates bag had a recipe for Palm Springs Fruit Salad (made with chicken, but I just used turkey breast meat instead) with Orange Mint Yogurt Dressing, and here it is, for your delectation!

You'll need:

For the salad -

1/2 c. dried dates, sliced (I chopped mine)
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cooled (or leftover turkey)
2 large oranges (I used 3 mikan - tangerines)
1 pineapple
2 kiwi fruit
mint sprigs for garnish

For the dressing -

1 c. plain lowfat yogurt
2 T. honey
2 t. grated orange peel
1 1/2 t. finely chopped candied ginger
1/8 t. salt
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 1/2 t. chopped fresh mint

Do this:

1. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl. Don't leave out the salt and cayenne pepper--they work together to add a nice tang and bite to an otherwise sweet dressing.
2. Remove peel and seeds from oranges. Slice them into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Peel and quarter pineapple and slice into 1/2 inch thick slices. Peel and chop kiwi, then arrange the fruit on 4 salad plates.
3. Meanwhile, tear chicken (or turkey) into strips and toss with the dates and the dressing. Divide mixture into 4 servings and put onto the plates with the mint sprigs for garnish.

I went a little crazy with my flowered fondant cutters, but feel free to cut the fruit into turkey shapes if you like! Gobble gobble. I had my (leftover) leftover salad with cranberry sauce instead of the other fruit, and that was yummy, too!

This dish has some quite intense flavors and it's actually really filling, so a little goes a long way. Stephen and I both had lit-up faces when we tasted it and it's definitely going in my arsenal of turkey-leftover recipes. It would be awesome in the summer with chicken, too, if I do say so.