Grandma’s Poppy Seed Dressing (Wedding Bloggery, Part 2)
For my sister Alexis’ wedding this past September I made a variety of canned goods as the wedding favors, and have been doing a series of posts since then dedicated to each recipe. First up was Mixed Spiced Nuts. Now, Poppy Seed Salad Dressing. For this favor all credit goes to my Grandma, whose delicious poppy seed dressing recipe has been a go-to family standby for ages. When I was brainstorming recipes for the favors this was a clear winner — delicious, well-loved by everyone in the family, and ridiculously easy to make, especially in large batches. I cannot say the same about the other recipe choices I made (stay tuned for my butterscotch sauce post which includes colorful moments like breaking down at 2:30 in the morning with my mother after I ruined batch after batch of sauce). But this one was a winner. And it looked great in the Weck Jars I fell in love with.
The dressing’s sweetness pairs amazingly with the tarter tanginess of the red onions and I find myself loving this recipe on the simplest of salads — a Boston Bibb lettuce or some baby spinach. Occasionally I’ll spice things up with some shaved red onion and avocado, or throw in a little citrus with some grapefruit or orange. But for the most part it is hard to go wrong with any combination. Perhaps the dressing and a spoon? Delicious.
Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
1/2 c tarragon vinegar
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
2 tbs grated red onion
1 c vegetable oil
1 tbs poppy seeds
Mix dry ingredients except poppy seeds. Slowly add the oil and vinegar, whisking to misk. Add poppy seeds.
Enjoy!
A note: occasionally I find it hard to find tarragon vinegar. Fear not! Substitutions work fine. I’ve also made the recipe with red and white wine vinegar and it has turned out delicious.
Updated! Look at you go. So much deliciousness. Maybe I need a salad RIGHT NOW. Instead I ate a leftover halloween kitkat. But that’s because I didn’t see the post first.
Steph- this looks delicious and so simple to make! does it have to be refrigerated? I’m wondering how you gave it as favors if it wasn’t shelf stable…
Hey Alli! Yeah it is incredibly simple! I canned the dressing to seal it but I left the favors refridgerated for the most part and recommended refridgerating right when people got home. So far no complaints but I didn’t want people to experiment with perishability…
The dressing sounds great! What amazing wedding favors! And I love the jars!
It was nice meeting you at dinner last night!
Thanks so much Andrea — so nice to meet you, as well! I’ll be sure to keep checking in on your blog!
i love poppy seeds! but i’m always thinking of that seinfeld episode with drug testing…
great meeting you this weekend! you’re in the video i made too! here’s the link when you have time to check it out:
http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/foodbuzz-kill/
It was great to meet you at FoodBuzz Festival — and thanks for the poppyseed dressing gift!! I am looking forward to trying it on some salads in the coming weeks
Hope you enjoyed the rest of the weekend — and I’m glad I can snag the recipe off here when I fall in LOVE with it
I have most of those ingredients on hand! I have been looking for a new recipe for dressing too! Thanks for sharing!
I totally went back and looked at your sister’s wedding. Woah. You guys should TOTALLY do that again and invite me.
Your pictures are also very beautiful.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with for the cook off.
I remember you making this dressing at Tommy’s apartment a while back; it was SO good! Thanks for posting it, I really want to make it now.