A few years ago I went to a dinner in our neighborhood and my sweet friend, Lorraine, provided the salad.  I have truly never had a more delicious salad and while all the salad ingredients were lovely, the DRESSING was absolutely addicting.  (I literally wanted to drink it with a straw.) 

|I just had to ask for the recipe and Lorraine was sweet enough to share!  It’s a recipe she got from her mom who uses it a lot at their church dinners and got it when she attended BYU-Idaho.  I sincerely love this delicious dressing over any salad, but my favorite salad to drizzle this over is this Strawberry Goat Cheese Chicken Salad!  

As I’ve been making this recipe the past couple of years, I’ve found a couple of variations that work beautifully:

• You can use a variety of different oils to make this dressing.  I have made it with canola and extra virgin olive oil but you could also use grapeseed, avocado, or safflower.  Each of these have a pretty neutral flavor, (though the olive oil is a little more earthy.)  I have found that my favorite oil for this is the canola.  It doesn’t thicken in the refrigerator like the olive oil does, and it’s easier to combine.  If you use olive oil, the dressing will be more yellow than white.  The dressing will also thicken in the refrigerator, (normal for good quality extra virgin olive oil.)  Just place it on the counter for 30 minutes before serving and it will return to salad dressing consistency.
• There are so many vinegars out there with different flavors and each will add it’s own flavor profile to the dressing.  Regular white, red wine, white wine, apple cider, balsamic or rice vinegar… you can absolutely switch up vinegars to change the flavor profile!
• When it comes to mustard, you can use 1 tsp of the ground mustard powder, or 1 Tbsp of prepared mustard.  When using prepared mustard, regular yellow mustard worked fine, but my favorite was Dijon.  Spicy brown came in at a close second.
• I have made this dressing with both finely grated onion and onion powder.  If you are using freshly grated onion, use a zester to get the finest grate and feel free to use your favorite onion – regular, sweet Vidalia, red/purple or even shallot!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground mustard (or 1 Tbsp prepared mustard)
• 1 Tbsp finely minced onion (or can use 1 tsp onion powder)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Instructions:

1. In a blender, add the the white vinegar, sugar, mustard, onion, salt and canola oil.  Blend until sugar is completely dissolved.
2. Stir in the poppy seeds and pour in to an airtight container, (I use a mason jar.)
3. Store in the refrigerator.  Shake before each use.