Giglio's Fruit Salad [T]

This fruit salad is nothing like the syrupy bowls you see at potlucks. Fresh peaches, plums, bananas, and grapes get dressed in champagne that’s been briefly infused with a hot chili pepper, then mixed with rice milk for a creamy, slightly spicy dressing that’s completely dairy-free. It’s served over torn Boston lettuce, which makes it feel more like a proper salad course than a dessert.

The hot pepper infusion is the surprise here. A halved, seeded chili steeps in boiling champagne just long enough to leave a gentle warmth behind, then gets discarded. You don’t taste “spicy." You taste a faint tingle that makes the fruit flavors pop in a way sugar never could. The champagne itself loses most of its alcohol during the boil, but retains that dry, yeasty quality that pairs naturally with stone fruit.

Rice milk blended into the cooled champagne creates a light, pourable dressing with a faint sweetness. The original recipe used heavy cream, but the dairy-free version works beautifully on its own.

Kitchen Tips

• Boil the champagne longer if you want to remove more alcohol. A quick boil leaves a trace; a 3 to 5 minute simmer cooks off nearly all of it.
• Let the champagne cool for the full 10 minutes before mixing with the rice milk. Hot liquid will curdle most plant-based milks.
• Serve immediately after dressing. The bananas brown quickly, and the lettuce wilts once the dressing hits it.
• Use a mild chili like a Fresno or serrano. Habaneros will overpower the fruit entirely.

Variations

• Use a sweet Riesling instead of champagne for a fruitier, sweeter dressing that works without the rice milk.
• Swap rice milk for vanilla oat milk or coconut cream for a richer dairy-free option.
• Add fresh mint leaves or a sprinkle of toasted coconut flakes for extra color and texture.