Are you and his wife on the same page that you won't be making the beloved Waldorf salad?

Shhhh!! No! She doesn't know I am cruisin' for something else. and If I can't find something else she likes....it will be that apple/pear/ raspberry vinaigrette thing.
And it must be fruit....not broccoli.

Sorry, didn't realize from your original post that it had to be fruit, you only specified light, fresh, and long table life. I'm sure you will get lots of new ideas soon.

Rusty

Not all fruit, but definitely sweet and long lasting. I'm having co. on Sunday for lunch and will be serving red cabbage and beet salad with currants as a side dish. I love it and it may become the new family favorite. Best made the day before.

I don't know where you live, but here in the PNW the best summer fruits have come and gone and we're pretty much left with apples, pears and grapes, bananas, plus whatever citrus is in season and the tropicals. You can buy all the others, but they are grown in Mexico and not that great this time of year.

But I love winter salads with tropical fruits and citrus; fresh pineapple, kiwi, oranges, etc. This one uses strawberries, which add the color needed, but you could use dried sweetened cranberries if the strawberries available are too awful. From Slow Roasted Italian website:

Best Ever Tropical Fruit Salad

MAKES 12 Cups | ACTIVE TIME 25 Min | TOTAL TIME 25 Min

12 mandarin oranges, divided (for dressing and salad)
2 cup strawberries, sliced
1 pineapple, cut into bite size chunks
5 kiwi, sliced
3 mangoes, cut into bite size chunks

Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing
1 medium lemon
1 lime
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon Gourmet Garden Ginger Paste or fresh grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Wash
and dry lemon, lime and 2 mandarin oranges. Zest the washed and dried
citrus with a zester or fine grater. Add to 1 cup measuring cup or small
bowl. Cut each in half and squeeze the juice into the measuring cup.
(You should get about 1/2 cup juice). Add honey, ginger and poppy seeds
to juice mixture and whisk until combined. Set aside or place in the
refrigerator if serving later.

Prepare remaining fruit. Slice
strawberries and kiwi. Section remaining oranges. Cut pineapple and
mango into bite size chunks. Place fruit in a large bowl. Pour dressing
on top of fruit about 30 minutes before serving. Gently toss to coat.
Serve and enjoy!

COOK'S NOTE: This fruit salad is
fabulous with whatever you have on hand. I love carambola (star fruit)
and papaya in this salad as well. Bananas are lovely, but have to be
added at the last minute or they will get soft and not look pretty.
Recipe developed by Donna Elick - The Slow Roasted Italian

I would go with a kale salad with some of the fruits you mentioned. Kale holds really well, even when dressed so adding some oranges, pears, cranberries or whatever could work well.

We can get berries from....who knows where....but they are pretty good....for November berries. I am going to suggest a mainly berry bowl with some kiwi ( which are really berries after all) and perhaps some pineapple. No bananas,,,,there are banana haters in my family

I don't know, I tried to change something on Thanksgiving and my family was really disappointed. It was the only time I made the dish and they were looking forward to it, more of a tradition than anything. Maybe you could make a small dish of the beloved salad and bring something new to slowly transition the family.

I agree with Lisacdm about the disappointment factor, so do tell them now if you're not bringing your DIL's favorite.

A cousin of mine made a salad of strawberries, kiwi, and Japanese persimmon. It was really beautiful, tasty, and different.

Balthazar Beet Salad!!! There are many variations on Balthazar Salad, but the one I adore must have beets, pears, walnuts and blue cheese. I usually do not like blue cheese, but I don't think this salad would be the same without it. Oh, I think I have to go the grocery store now. See ya! Balthazar Beet Salad

Thanks donna loomis- I adore beets and that recipe looks great.

I was thinking beets too. Specifically a beet, pomegranate and walnut salad - delicious and gorgeous. Based very loosely on a salad that a friend from the Caucuses made for a dinner I was at once. I say loosely because he is very specific about the ingredients - no dressing. I tend to make a simple olive oil/vinegar dressing. Oh and toast the walnuts and add at the very end.

I'd make it for her, and have something yummy you want the next day.

Seriously, do it for her, you can eat whatever you want whenever you want, but having someone do something for is special and you are blessed to have her in that place.

Thing is...no one really eats a fruit salad with the dinner. Not sure if she wants me to make it because she loves ti or because.....just because. I don't take it....I go to their house a couple of days before and cook what I am assigned. But if I go with an "idea' I might affect a change.

Wow! that beet salad sounds wonderful!!...wonder if I could get away with that?
The thing about the apple and pear salad is that it was a replacement for a nother traditional salad.

Maybe she wants you to make it because she knows you know how to make it. People sometimes don't want to "impose" and try to make it easy for others? Yeah, that's it.