It sits alone and untouched at the end of a long buffet table -- a bowl full of apples and bananas, maybe a seedy orange tossed in as an afterthought. Don't let your fruit salad meet this awful fate, spruce it up instead!No one likes a boring fruit salad, and there's no reason that this classic dish should be anything but fresh, delicious and exciting. If you find that your bowl lacks inspiration, try out one of these ideas:

1. Add mint. My favorite fruit salad in the world consists of strawberries, grapes, sugar, vanilla and mint -- and it's to die for. I've seen mint work miracles in other versions, too. Just chop up about a cup and toss it in.

2. Go tropical. A fruit salad of pineapples, mangoes, starfruit and shredded coconut is so refreshing, both in flavor and concept.

3. Dress it. Green salads always get dressings, why deny a fruit salad the same treatment? Try making a honey lime sauce, or even a vanilla one.

3. Serve it in stemware. You've seen it done in restaurants, so try dishing out fruit salad in cocktail glasses next time.

4. Make it spicy. Making a ginger syrup can give your fruit salad a major kick. Check out recipes like this one for summer fruit or this one for Asian pears, which also calls for maple syrup and is completely delicious.

5. Don't fear the savory. What's a little garlic to a fruit salad? Dive in and try incorporating non-sweet, non-fruit items into your salad. This recipe from the Chicago Sun-Times mixes fruit and veggies, and though I've never tried it personally, it certainly looks worth a shot. There's even a fruit salad recipe out there with bacon! And if you need to work toward savory with baby steps, just give your dish the old balsamic reduction drizzle.

More ideas? Please share! I'm making a fruit salad tonight, and would love to hear any further suggestions!