Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

Wednesday was Secretary's Day, so I took a salad plate lunch to the secretaries at my girls' school.  In my haste to get the lunch to school after the building OAA testing time and before lunch started, I forgot to take a picture.  Hopefully you'll be able to envision it with my descriptive writing skills!

Atop a bed of torn salad greens, I placed sliced cucumber, halved red grapes, chunks of Gala apple, pieces of rotisserie chicken breast, and roasted almonds.  I also included a small container of my lemon poppy seed dressing to pour over the salad.  On the side of the plate, I had 2 slices of my homemade artisan bread topped with a pat of real butter, and two large strawberries dipped in milk chocolate (I used a melted Hershey bar from our leftover Halloween candy).  A light lunch filled with some of my favorite things for two of my favorite people at my girls' school.

This lemon poppy seed dressing recipe is one of my favorite salad dressings in my recipe file.  I've had it a long time and adapted it from one of the recipes from a Pampered Chef party years and years ago.  I often serve it over salads that combine fruit and vegetables, and I love this light lemon dressing paired with chicken on top of the salad.  The poppy seeds give it a bit of flair, but I have also made the dressing without the poppy seeds and it still tastes very good.  You can use fresh squeezed or from concentrate lemon juice.  You can use fresh lemon zest or the dried kind, or none if you don't have any on hand.  You can whip up a small jar of this dressing and keep it in your frig for a couple of weeks.  It doesn't take much dressing on top of a salad to give your greens a delicate burst of flavor.

Here's the recipe:

Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
few shakes of salt
1/2 tsp lemon zest

In a small jar, whisk together all the ingredients.  Store in frig up to 2 weeks.  Serve over favorite fruited mixed greens.

What are your favorite salad lunch toppings?