Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

This is a great opportunity for Creative Cooking, even for a non-chef such as myself.  I didn't have romaine lettuce, Swiss cheese, poppyseeds, cashews, cranberries or pears.  I did have spinach, gouda, apples, almonds, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries and it was great.  I recently made it again with the intended ingredients and that was just as delicious, because the dressing is so good that it doesn't matter what the ingredients are!  Romaine is easier to prepare than spinach - no long stems to to contend with.  Nuts give it a nice crunchy texture.  I served it with Beef Tagine and it offset the heat of the dish perfectly.

6-8 servings

10 calculated points

Right is original recipe and left is the "creative" version

Sparkling Wine

Ingredients

• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons diced onion
• 1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 cup cashews
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• 1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
• 1 pears - peeled, cored and diced

Directions

In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running add oil in a slow steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth. Add poppy seeds and process just a few seconds more to mix.

In a large serving bowl combine the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, cubed apple and cubed pear. Toss to mix then pour dressing over salad just before serving and toss to coat.

October 10, 2017 Version