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Winter Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | this is our favorite #tossedsalad. It includes #cashews, #Swisscheese, #craisins, #apples & #pears. The homemade #poppyseeddressing is absolutely mouthwatering. This terrific #salad is wonderful for company or #holiday dinners like #FathersDay. #glutenfree

Winter Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Teresa Ambra
This is a wonderful tossed green salad with fruit. The savory flavors of cashews and Swiss cheese work really well with the sweet dried cranberries. The homemade poppy seed dressing is absolutely mouthwatering. This gluten free recipe is terrific for company or holiday dinners like Easter, Mother's Day or Father's Day.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Salads and Salad Dressings
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

SALAD:

  • 1 head Romaine lettuce rinsed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 4 oz. Swiss cheese shredded (1 cup)
  • 1 cup cashews
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
  • 1 Gala or Fuji apple unpeeled, cored and cubed (I use 2)
  • 1 pear unpeeled and cubed (I use 2)
  • lemon juice as needed

POPPY SEED DRESSING:

  • 1/2 cup white sugar or honey
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. onion diced (I have also used dehydrated onion)
  • 1 tsp. Dijon-style prepared mustard
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 2/3 cup avocado oil
  • 1 tbsp. poppy seeds

Instructions
 

SALAD:

  • In a large serving bowl, combine the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, and dried cranberries.
  • Place cubed apples and cubed pears in lemon juice and swirl to prevent discoloration.
  • Add apples and pears to salad.
  • Refrigerate until read to serve.
  • When ready to serve, toss salad to mix, then pour dressing over salad just before serving and toss to coat.

POPPY SEED DRESSING:

  • In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard, oil, poppy seeds and salt.
  • Process until well blended.
  • Pour over salad before serving.

Notes

NOTE: I prefer Gala or Fuji apples.
 
NOTE: Swiss cheese seems to work better than any other kind for this recipe.
 
NOTE: Butter Bliss lettuce and Spring Mix also work well for this salad.
 
NOTE: Many times I add blueberries to this recipe, sometimes pineapple, and sometimes omit the apples and pears altogether and use strawberries, blueberries, mandarin orange segments and pineapple. Feel free to exchange the lettuce, cheese, nuts, or fruit for other ingredients, while using the main idea.
 
NOTE: If you are not serving the salad immediately, or you will not be eating all the salad in one sitting, it is recommended to drizzle dressing over individual salad bowls rather than combining the salad with all of the dressing.That way the salad will not decompose so quickly.
 
NOTE: Although I've tried using stevia and xylitol sweeteners I haven't been able to get the right combination of flavors to make the dressing taste well. So I recommend using honey or maple syrup. But, feel free to experiment.
 
NOTE: You can leave this dressing to sit out until you're ready to eat the salad. When you do refrigerate coconut or avocado oil, it will harden and you will have to bring it to room temperature (about 75 degrees) to get it to liquid form again. Or microwave for a few seconds.
Recipe adapted from All Recipes.
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