Salad dressing, poppyseed, creamy

Creamy poppyseed dressing is a sweet, tangy dressing built on a mayonnaise or oil-and-vinegar base, sugar and a generous scattering of poppy seeds that add a faint crunch and nutty note. It's a classic match for fruit salads, spinach salads with strawberries or apples, and coleslaw, where its sweetness balances bitter greens or tart fruit, and it also works well as a drizzle over a simple chicken salad. The texture is thick and pourable rather than a thin vinaigrette, clinging nicely to leaves and fruit alike, and it can also be thinned with a splash of milk or lemon juice for use as a dip for fruit skewers.

A tablespoon (33 g) of this dressing carries 399 calories per 100 g, with 23.4 g sugar and 23.7 g carbohydrate reflecting its sweet profile, plus 933 mg sodium per 100 g, so it's worth using as an accent rather than pouring heavily over a bowl. It does stand out for vitamin E, supplying 16% of the daily value per 100 g from its oil base, a byproduct of the oil used to make it rather than the seeds themselves. Shake or stir well before using since the poppy seeds and oil can separate, and keep the bottle refrigerated after opening to preserve its flavor and texture.