I’ve come across several variations of fruit salad calling for basil, which has always sounded interesting to me. Most of the time, I see it paired with peaches, but to be quite honest, the peaches I’ve eaten this summer have been terrible. And I don’t know if you have this problem or not, but every time I bring them home, they come with fruit flies. Yick. So I’m bypassing all things peach right now.

I still wanted to try a salad that paired fruit with basil, however, so I started thinking about flavors, colors, and what was in season. I’d just picked gallons of blueberries and blackberries, which are in abundance right now in the Pacific Northwest. They’d go well with basil, I thought. Now I needed a contrasting color, because, really, who wants to eat a purple and green salad? I needed red! I needed strawberries! Thought slightly out of season, they can still be found in supermarkets, so I went with them. The end result was gorgeous, and tasted magnificent. Even my husband thought so.

For two people, here’s what you do. For more than two, increase the recipe accordingly.

In a stain resistant bowl, combine 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped basil, ½ tsp. of raw sugar, and a grind of black pepper. Yep, that’s right, black pepper. Don’t be afraid now. Mix until sugar is moistened. (As an alternative, omit the sugar and drizzle honey over the top of the fruit, or omit sweetener all together, if your fruit is sufficiently sweet.)

To the bowl, add ½ pint of washed, hulled, and halved strawberries, ½ cup of blueberries, and ½ cup of blackberries. Gently toss the fruit with the basil mixture. Drizzle with a bit of lime juice, let the salad hang out for five or so minutes to let the flavors mingle, and wallah, you have it.