Tropical Fruit Salad with Mint and Spices

Who is excited for Spring? Raise your hand and shout!
I can't wait for spring to officially be here. If you know me at all, you know that I am not a fan of cold weather or snow. I love sunshine. I would rather be hot than cold. Sweat doesn't bother me at all. Chills and brrrrr- I am not a fan.
This recipe made me feel tropical. And since spring is soo close (2 days away), I decided it wouldn't be too horrible if I posted this recipe with all these delicious fruits.

The picture for this recipe in the New Mayo Clinic Cookbook just really made me want to make this fruit salad immediately. The little flecks of vanilla bean and all the bright colors of the fruits- It looked absolutely heavenly.
I noticed mangoes, papaya, raspberries, and kiwis at the grocery store and they were not too expensive, so I bought them. Throw in some canteloupe and banana and you are good to go.

My girls helped me cut up the fruit, make the divine syrup, and stir everything together. They are such good helpers.

The syrup that goes over the fruit calls for honey, lemon juice, orange juice, cinnamon, ginger, a vanilla bean and coriander. What? coriander? That was my original thought when I saw coriander on the ingredient list, but I was brave and I added it and it really added a little extra something to the syrup. The syrup reminded me of mulling cider when it was bubbling away on the stove. I loved that it wasn't overly sweet, but very full of flavor. It was warm(not temperature, but ya know?) and soothing, yet cool and refreshing all at once.

It was unbelievable with the fruit and mint. I never would have thought to combine all these fruits, flavors and spices. It was amazing.

The recipe said that the syrup was really great over pancakes. I was really hoping we could try it that way. But it just disappeared too fast.

Recipe for Tropical Fruit Salad with Mint and Spices