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When we're making a big fruit salad for a lot of guests, we often like to toss the cut fruit with an easy dressing of simple syrup, lemon juice, and any flavorings we have on hand. This helps bring the flavors of the different fruits together and adds a little extra zing to an otherwise ordinary salad.

As an added bonus, the lemon prevents the fruit from browning as quickly and the syrup helps keep the fruits from drying out over the course of a long afternoon picnic.

Give it a try!

Sweet Vinaigrette

1/4 cup simple syrup
juice from one lemon or two limes
optional: chopped herbs like mint or basil, a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon, citrus zest

Whisk everything together in a bowl. Drizzle half the dressing over the salad and stir gently until the fruit is evenly coated. Add more dressing to taste or as needed to coat all the fruit.

When making the simple syrup, you can also add aromatics like lavender, cinnamon sticks, or slivers of fresh ginger to the sauce pan to infuse even more flavor!

Related: Quick Tip: Add Fresh Fruit to Green Salads

(Image: Flickr member vmiramontes licensed under Creative Commons)