Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

A big fresh salad is a welcome addition to any meal during the hot days of the summer.  In fact if the day is a real scorcher, I’m happy to make my whole meal out of the just the salad.  It’s crisp, refreshing, and doesn’t get you all warmed up like a hot meal does (which is important at my house where there’s no air conditioning).

On one of our recent 100+ degree days, I made this tasty strawberry salad with a homemade poppy seed dressing.  If you’re bringing this salad to a gathering, you can pour the dressing over the entire salad just before serving.  When eating the salad at home, I just kept the dressing in a separate bottle and used it for individual plates of salad.  In fact the leftovers of both the salad and the dressing kept for several days in the refrigerator and I was able to stretch it into a couple more quick and easy lunches as the week went along.  Yum!

Top your salad with this easy poppy seed dressing

STRAWBERRY SALAD WITH HOMEMADE POPPY SEED DRESSING

1 Head of Romain Lettuce

Sliced Fresh Strawberries

Sliced Almonds (I use Almond Accents)

Tear the romaine lettuce into smaller pieces and put into a large bowl.  Top with sliced fresh strawberries and sliced almonds as desired.

Poppy Seed Dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup sugar (or Splenda)

1 heaping tablespoon sour cream

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.  You can also combine the ingredients in a clean jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well to combine.  You can either pour the entire batch of the dressing over the salad before serving, or you can keep the dressing separate and pour it on individual plates of salad.

The dressing can also be thinned more if desired by adding a bit more milk.