Watermelon soup? Pasta with strawberries? Topping a burger with kiwi? It may sound strange, but there are lots of ways to incorporate summer fruit into your dinner dishes to take advantage of antioxidants like lycopene and vitamin C. How about some plum pizza? A ready-made pizza shell brushed with a little oil, topped with plum slices and sprinkled with feta cheese, then baked to perfection makes a salty-sweet dish that the kids will love. Instead of fattening ground beef, try ground turkey or chicken in a kid-friendly slider size, topped with diced kiwi. When layered with honey mustard and apples, it makes a great alternative to the same old burger, and kiwis have comparable nutrition to the greens you might layer on a burger. Whip up a pasta salad with panache by boiling up bowtie pasta, draining, then adding torn basil leaves, halved mozzarella cheese balls and sliced strawberries.

Top with balsamic dressing to taste. How about a cool watermelon soup to take the edge of the summer heat? Many kids would turn up their noses at gazpacho, a tomato-based version of cold soup, but when you puree watermelon cubes with a little salt, pepper and coriander, then mix in a bit of Greek yogurt, you'll appeal to the picky fruit lovers in your family. Watermelon has lots of lycopene as well, and when you leave it out for a little while to reach room temperature, you can increase the level of lycopene by up to 40 percent! Try fruit as a side for some of your usual dishes, like pork. Fruit is a natural pair for this meat, whether it's grilled pineapple with ham, applesauce with pork chops or even grilled apricots for a change of pace. Enjoy the fruit summer has to offer by giving it to your family as a side dish for dinner.