Poppyseed Salad

This is one of my favorite Salad's!
I just made it for my neighbor with some grilled chicken and fresh French bread,
her family loved it.
It is a fresh, tasty Summer meal.
I hope you enjoy it!

Poppyseed Salad

Dressing: (this is the best part and makes the salad)
-3/4 cup sugar

-1 tsp salt

-1 tsp dry mustard

-1/3 cup red wine vinegar

-1 1/2 Tb Maui or Vidalia onion, chopped

-1 cups canola oil

-1 1/2 Tb poppy seeds

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a blender, then slowly add the oil, blending until thick. Stir in poppy seeds. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Salad:
-1 bag of Spinach leaves (1/2 pound)

-Romaine lettuce chopped (1 bag or 1 heads)
-4 to 5 sliced strawberries

- 1/2 cup Red onion, sliced thinly
-3-4 sliced mushrooms

- 4-5 pieces of Crispy bacon, crumbled (I like to cook the bacon in a pan on broil in the oven until crispy)

-1 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1/2 cup sliced Toasted almonds (or you can sugar the almonds. Put sliced almonds in a pan with lots of granulated sugar (about equal amounts). Cook on medium heat until sugar melts)

Toss all ingredients together with generous amount of dressing before serving.

**optional: to make it a meal you can grill chicken and put slices on top of salad**

**the great thing about this salad is that you can add or subtract ingredients to your liking. I have made it with blueberries, Mandarin oranges, strawberries, grilled chicken, and almonds-very good. As long as you use the dressing it will turn out!**
(I have doubled this recipe for a large group BBQ and it turned out really good)