Fruit and Mozzarella Salad with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing

This recipe looked SO good that I had to try it immediately, even if fruit isn’t at it’s finest just yet.  I actually just bought some pears, strawberries, kiwis, blueberries, oranges, and apples and cut them up and tossed them with the mozzarella cheese and some of the dressing.  SO good.  Next time I would not toss the dressing ahead of time because it gets soggy in the fridge – dress each serving individually.  This would make a great dish for Easter.  The Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing is fabulous and would be great on salads too!  Recipe from Southern Living Magazine.

Ingredients:

-3 cups peeled, coarsely chopped fresh peaches

-1 (8 oz) tub fresh small mozzarella cheese balls, cut in half (I used a big ball of mozzarella and cut into 1” pieces)

-3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

-3/4 cup Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing (at bottom)

-4 cups seeded and cubed watermelon

-4 cups cubed honeydew melon

-3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

-2 cups seedless green grapes, cut in half

Directions:

1.  Toss first 3 ingredients with 1/4 cup Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing.

2.  Layer watermelon, peach mixture, honeydew, berries, and grapes in a large glass trifle dish or tall glass bowl.  Serve immediately, or cover and chill up to 8 hours.  Toss remaining 1/2 cup dressing just before serving.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing:

Process 2/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds, 2 tsp finely chopped onion, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, and 1/2 tsp salt in a blender until smooth.  Store in refrigerator up to 1 week; serve at room temperature.

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