But we do love the local cherries, and when Dixon melons – cantaloupe grown in a sunny corner of the valley just south of us – appear, we always indulge. (Here's the Cantaloupe Cucumber Salad we made with an earlier Dixon melon.)
This Lime Poppy Seed Dressing is perfect on a fruit salad. Use your favorite combo; I used half a cantaloupe, one nectarine, a small bunch of green grapes, a banana, and a handful of Rainier and Lambert (dark red) cherries, and about half the dressing. The rest went on a spinach and strawberry salad topped with honey roasted pecans. Mmm!
The inspiration recipe called for more citrus; I always start with half and adust, as I did here. You might want to add a little more to suit your own taste and the fruit or salad you’re dressing. An immersion or stick blender is the perfect tool, but a small food processor or your blender will work nicely, too.
What's your favorite way to eat fruit? And yes, wine is a fruit!
Lime Poppy Seed Dressing
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons) lime juice1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon white onion, chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Add all the ingredients except the poppy seeds to a small bowl that fits with your immersion blender. Alternatively, use a blender or a small food processor. Pulse until well mixed and the oil emulsifies. Add the poppy seeds and pulse a few times to break the seeds down a bit, to the consistency of coarsely ground black pepper.
Dress your salad just before serving.
Store any remaining dressing in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. The dressing may separate a bit; shake before using to recombine.
Enjoy!
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries, and the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories. Death al Dente, the first Food Lovers' Village Mystery, won Best First Novel in 2013, following her 2011 win in Best Nonfiction. Her first historical short story, "All God's Sparrows," won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. Watch for her first standalone suspense novel, Bitterroot Lake (written as Alicia Beckman) in April 2021 from Crooked Lane Books.
A past president of Sisters in Crime and a current board member of Mystery Writers of America, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.
Swing by her website and subscribe to her seasonal newsletter, for a chat about the writing life, what she's working on, and what she's reading -- and a free short story. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.
Is it wrong that I want to skip the fruit salad and just use this on that spinach and strawberry salad topped with honey roasted pecans? Sounds swoon-worthy to me.
ReplyDeleteNot wrong at all! Sorry I don't have any pictures of that one -- maybe in two weeks for my next post, except our berries are all gone. :(
DeleteOkay, so now I'm singing "If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right." And it's your fault, Amy!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty salad.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that with all that lime juice you still need 1 TBS of apple cider vinegar. It must balance the taste profile somehow.
@Amy-I'd add some chevre to that salad of yours.
You're right, Libby -- the lime and vinegar balance the sugar nicely. And yes to topping that spinach salad with goat cheese or feta, whichever you have on hand. Love that tart-sweet combo!
DeleteLeslie, you made me laugh with your comment about wine counting as fruit! My whole family adores fresh fruit, eaten plain,on a cheese board, in or on a salad, you name it! I often just squeeze a lime over fruit salad. But we do enjoy poppy seed dressing occasionally. Yours sounds great. Here's a secret I've done for several years: One of my brothers thinks he only likes one expensive kind of p-s dressing (Brianna's Organic)so I found a copycat recipe--like yours w/out the lime but a smidge of mayo added. I blend it & add it to the washed out bottle et voila! He's never caught on to my trick! Shhhh, don't tell.
ReplyDeleteLynn, that's a HOOT! There are some great copy-cat sites and I admit to cribbing freely, but never with a story like yours!
DeleteThat looks amazing!! Thanks is for sharing!
ReplyDelete