A cool bowl of bright fruit for the elimination days

When you are early in your elimination phase and looking for something sweet, this is the bowl to reach for. It asks nothing of you but a knife and half an hour of patience while it chills in the refrigerator. No labels to check, no ingredient list to worry over, just fruit, lemon, and a little honey, used here in a single modest tablespoon. You are allowed something sweet that works with you.

Apple and apricot are a source of vitamin C and potassium, and the whole fruit brings fiber that supports steady digestion rather than a sugar spike. This is simple, real nourishment while your body does its slower work of settling.

There is a small ceremony in chilling fruit before you eat it. You cut, you toss, you wait. By the time the bowl comes back out of the refrigerator the flavors have softened into each other, and you get to sit down to something you made with your own hands. Let that count. So much of healing is just showing up to the table with care.

Ingredients

• 4 small apricots, chopped
• 1 large apple, chopped
• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey

Swaps made: none needed for Core. Check that the dried cranberries are clean-label with no added sugar, sunflower oil, or other excluded ingredients before you use them.

Method

• Add the chopped apricots, chopped apple, sliced banana, and dried cranberries to one bowl.
• Pour over the lemon juice and honey, then toss gently until every piece is coated. The lemon keeps the apple and banana from browning.
• Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes so the flavors meld, then serve cold.

Make-ahead note

This holds well chilled for a few hours. If you are making it further ahead, hold the banana and stir it in just before serving so it stays bright. There is no cooking step and no appliance variation; the work here is in the cutting and the waiting.

*Adapted from a-clean-plate*