Salad — bleuh!  That’s how I always felt about it, mainly because I always ate the same kind of salad with the same kind of dressing. And the more I ate it, the less trouble I went to with it, so that it eventually wound down to carrots and lettuce.  The trick to adding more raw vegetables to your diet, I discovered, was to take the time to make jazzier salads.    Here is a fruit salad with a poppyseed dressing I tweaked in a healthier direction.

Ingredients

For the dressing:
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup sugar substitute. (I used Xylitol, but the flavor of honey would work well with this recipe, I think.)
¼ tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. mayonnaise
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
6 tbsp. coconut oil
1½ tsp. poppy seeds

For the salad:
Romaine lettuce, washed and dried
Strawberries, hulled and sliced
Blueberries
Fresh pineapple, cubed

Directions

Combine the vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, salt, mayonnaise and orange juice in a blender.  Blend well.  Add the coconut oil  a spoonful at a time and continue processing until mixed in well.  Add the poppy seeds and pulse briefly just until blended.  Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the salad, tear the lettuce into bite-size pieces.  Plate individual servings of the lettuce in salad plates.  Top each serving with strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple cubes as desired.  You can also add nuts of your choice to give the salad more protein.   Drizzle lightly with the poppy seed dressing and serve immediately.

This one turned out really tasty for me — and I really enjoyed salad for a change.  I hope you enjoy it, too!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown