Fancy Dressings: Cranberry Poppy Seed and Orange Poppy Seed


I told you all about my love for homemade dressings-   well, here are a couple of my favorite more complicated ones.  I call them more complicated because they require a food processor, and usually some ingredients that you might not always have handy at home.  These are the dressings that YOU MUST TRY if I bring them to a dinner party! 

The first one, I am ever so proud of because I virtually stole it from a cookbook in a restaurant!  I know, I’m bad!  I used to enjoy going to Charbono’s for lunch in Avon when I was teaching there.  (It was right next to my favorite scrapbooking store, you know!)  I would always order the side salad and some chicken velvet soup.  (Which was just as yummy as the old Arbor Café’s was.)  The dressing that came with this salad was PHENOMENAL! I mean, “wow!”  Well, on my way out one day, I noticed they had a cookbook for sale.  It was $25.00, and I didn’t have that much extra money (Ahem, I had already been to the scrapbook store!)  So, I looked up in the index and saw that the recipe for this dressing was in the cookbook!  I studied it carefully and memorized all the ingredients and amounts.  As soon as I got to the car, I wrote it all down on a scrap of paper!  I made it for Thanksgiving that year, and it got rave reviews from my family.  I don’t make it terribly often because it does require a little more time and ingredients, but I do love it.

Cranberry Poppy Seed Dressing from Charbono’s.
2 C Mayonnaise
1 Small White Onion- chopped in food processor
1/3 C Sugar
¼ C Cranberry Juice
A Handful of Craisins
½ Tbs Poppy Seeds.

Process all ingredients in a food processor. 

YUMMMMMMMY! The original salad also had brussels sprouts and sunflower seeds, and I think some crumbled bacon, along with some unprocessed Craisins.



The next is one that my mother-in-law often requests.  It also involves poppy seeds.  (So don’t take any drug tests after eating!)

Orange Poppy Seed Dressing
3 Tbs Sugar (or sweetener such as Splenda)
1 ½ tsp finely shredded orange peel
2 Tbs Orange Juice
2 Tbs White Vinegar
1 tsp finely chopped onion (I usually use a little more than a tsp- maybe even a Tbs.)
1 tsp Poppy Seeds
1/3 C Salad Oil (like canola)
Pepper, to taste

Process the sugar, orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, onion and pepper.  Add in the oil and poppy seed (while mixing if possible)

This goes really well with a salad that has a little fruit in it- like strawberries or mandarin oranges.  You can save it in the fridge for a week.

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