When I first made this dressing, I was really amazed at how much better it tasted than store bought, and how insanely easy it was to make; so when I came across a chicken past salad recipe calling for lemon-poppy seed dressing, there was no way I was gonna buy a jar.
I never actually got around to making that salad – but I had some toasted pecans, strawberries, and bag o’ spinach hanging around, and they were perfect with this little bit of dressing heaven.
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 cup white sugar
•1/2 cup lemon juice – about 2 lemons
•6 tsp diced onion
•1 tsp Dijon mustard
•1/2 tsp salt
•2/3 cup canola oil
•1 tbsp poppy seeds
Usually, I will cut the sugar back to 1/4 cup, but since I was using Trader Joe’s Dijon, which has quite a bit of a kick, I went for the full blast o’ sweet.
Combine the sugar, lemon juice, onion, Dijon mustard, and salt in a blender and give ’em a good whizzz to really mince that onion and combine everything else.
Next, with the blender running, pour in the canola oil slowly. Keep the blender running until all the oil is incorporated and the dressing emulsifies.
Add the poppy seeds and give the blender another quick whizzz to combine.
Dressing done! And how nice on a salad of spinach, English cucumber, red onion, strawberries, and toasted pecans? Or, you could go with the classic Winter Fruit Salad, which is also very nice.
Either way – this dressing is a winner!