Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

Diocesan employees who work at the Pastoral Center and Chancery celebrated the coming of fall with a potluck this Thursday. Of course there were numerous delicious dishes and a full table of desserts to sample. What can I say? Potlucks are always fun!

I brought a romaine salad with an apple, pears, dried cranberries and cashews. A number of people asked for the recipe so I'm considering it a hit! If you’re looking for a healthy, unique salad to serve at this time of year, consider giving this one a try.

Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

(Adapted from “Festive Foods to Make & Take”)

Dressing

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 tsp. finely chopped onion

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2/3 cup oil

1 tbsp. poppy seed

Salad

2-3 heads romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces (about 10 cups)

4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Swiss cheese

1 cup cashews, roughly chopped (some of the nuts should remain whole)

1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 apple, cubed*

2 pears, cubed*

In blender combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard and salt. Cover; process until blended. With machine running, add oil in slow steady stream, processing until thick and smooth. Add poppy seeds; process a few seconds to mix.

*Do not cut up fruit until right before serving.

In large serving bowl, gently combine all salad ingredients. Pour dressing over salad immediately before serving; toss to coat.

Yield: 12 (1 cup) servings

Notes from Carol:

This is a wonderful salad to serve in the fall or winter! I usually make a double batch of the salad dressing in the blender and store it in a quart jar. This double recipe can be used for three or more salads. (I like to add only a light coating of the dressing instead of using a full batch for one salad.)

*I used one Honeycrisp apple and two ripe Bartlett pears in the salad served at the Pastoral Center Sept. 30, 2010. I mixed in all of the shredded cheese but reserved some of the dried cranberries and cashews to decorate the top.

The original recipe suggested Anjou or Bosc pears as they are available in the fall and throughout the winter months. Both varieties are sweet — Bosc pears have a slightly spicy flavor. CJK