TWO WAY POPPY SEED DRESSING
LIKE FIRST WATCH RESTAURANT
To continue our fun theme of sharing my “clones” of top
secret restaurant recipes, today we’re going to make one of The
First Watch’s most requested dressing recipes. This is a favorite
of customers who routinely ask for the salad dressing recipe used on
both the fruit salad and the marinated vegetable salad. Now First Watch
was kind enough to share their restaurant quantity recipe which made
a gallon or so! Using their recipe as a guide, I’ve developed a
great one for the home cook, tweaking it here and there to make it my
own “signature” dressing, lower in fat but still retaining
all the flavor.
The best part of this recipe is that it’s really two recipes in
one and is really great for this hot weather. Pair either salad I’m
sharing with a grilled burger, steak, or poultry and you have a wonderful
meal with no fuss.
RITA’S LIGHTENED VERSION OF FIRST WATCH POPPY SEED DRESSING
Sometimes I’ll add celery seed instead of the poppy seeds, and
reduce the amount to 2 teaspoons.
BASIC DRESSING FOR MARINATED VEGETABLES
Go to taste on ingredients here. You can always add more.
Blend together:
¼
cup lemon juice
1/3 cup vinegar (either cider or clear)
1-1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 cup sugar or substitute (I like Splenda)
¼
cup diced onion or more to taste
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups Canola oil (or use 1 cup Canola and ¼ to ½ cup
water)
OPTIONAL INGREDIENT TO MAKE DRESSING FOR FRUIT SALAD
After you whisk in Canola oil, whisk in ½ cup sour cream. This
makes a creamy dressing for fruit. I like to use low fat sour cream.
Even fat free sour cream works well here because the flavors of the basic
dressing are strong enough. Can you use yogurt? Yes, but the dressing
won’t be quite as creamy. Use a plain yogurt, fat free.
TO ASSEMBLE MARINATED VEGETABLE SALAD:
Mix together 2 cups each diced celery and zucchini. Stir in 3-4 cups
diced tomatoes. (I like to add a few diced carrots in here, as well).
Mix with small amount of dressing and serve on bed of greens. You can
also marinate the vegetables several hours ahead of time, except for
the tomatoes. Stir those in last.
TO ASSEMBLE FRUIT SALAD: Using fruits in season, lay your favorite bite-size
pieces on a bed of greens. Drizzle dressing over. Garnish with mint leaves.
TIPS FROM RITA’S KITCHEN
When trying to low fat salad dressing recipes, add a bit of water to
the vinaigrette. And remember, just dress the salad – don’t
soak it in dressing. A little goes a long way!
©2007 Rita Heikenfeld and AboutEating.com
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