Tasty Tuesday: Fruit Salad with Orange-Vanilla Syrup

Someone brought this fruit salad to our Memorial Day dinner & it was SO good. Like I seriously wanted to drink the juice with a straw. I snagged the recipe & here it is!

(photo source)

The Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• zest & juice of 1 orange
• 1 cup water
• 1 vanilla bean (found in produce section of grocery store) or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 pints strawberries, hulled & halved
• 2 pints blueberries
• 2 cups red seedless grapes, halved
• 2 cups green seedless grapes, halved
• 3-4 kiwis, peeled & sliced
• mint leaves
  

The Directions:

In medium saucepan, combine water, sugar & zest of orange. Cut orange in half & squeeze juice into pan. Slice vanilla bean open & scrape out "caviar" of bean (it will look like little black flecks) & add to pan. Or add vanilla extract if you're not going the bean route.

Bring mixture to boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Lower heat & simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until syrup is slightly thickened. Place syrup in fridge to cool completely.

*tip: you can make this syrup the night before if necessary

Wash & slice all fruit. Chop up mint leaves (or leave them whole for a more concentrated minty flavor) & add to fruit mixture. Gently toss with chilled syrup & serve. YUM!