Ranch Salad Dressing with Cream & Fresh Herbs

Hello Summer!

The season of salads and cool meals!  The time to eat outdoors.  The time to eat fresh ingredients from the garden or the farmers market!

The time of year we wait ALL year for!

When someone asks me how they can get started with cooking from scratch, I often suggest to start with salad dressings!  Not only are homemade salad dressing super easy to make and you KNOW what you're putting into them, but they also TASTE way better than the store bought ones!

Vinaigrettes are salad dressings that are made from a blend of oil with an acidic liquid like vinegar or lemon juice.  You can adapt your vinaigrette flavouring with the use of different herbs & spices, or by changing up the type of vinegar or juice, or by adding in a flavourful ingredient like maple syrup or dijon mustard.  Inside The Kitchen Club in August, we'll be diving head first into the world of vegetables including salad dressings made from scratch.

But today, let's talk about creamy salad dressings!  Creamy dressings like caesar or ranch dressing contain ingredients that make them creamy and thicker than a vinaigrette.  There is usually some combination of mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, and/or sour cream.  Often, the ingredients are really interchangeable:  if you're out of cream, swap in buttermilk.  If you're out of sour cream, go ahead and swap in mayo in it's place.  The final consistency and flavour might be a little different, but the taste will still be great!

To make homemade buttermilk, measure a 1/2 cup of milk, remove 1.5 tablespoons of milk, then add 1.5 tablespoons of white vinegar.  Stir in and let sit for 5 minutes before using.

In today's recipe for homemade ranch dressing, you'll find that there is no sour cream.  This means that the dressing is runnier than the typical store-bought ranch - this makes it amazing for salads.  If you're looking for a ranch that is wonderful for dipping your veggies in, you can adapt this recipe by swapping the cream for an equal amount of sour cream.  This will make a super thick ranch dip that's the perfect compliment to your veggie platter!

You'll find that this recipe works great with fresh herbs from the garden (dill and parsley) and fresh onions & garlic.  BUT, you can also swap in dried herbs & veggies when it's off-season or if you don't have them.

Give this ranch dressing a try with the beef taco salad made with beef short ribs for a hearty summer meal!  (Recipe here.)

Ranch Dressing with Cream & Herbs Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream (10%)
• 2 teaspoons fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley or 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon sugar or melted honey or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon dehydrated minced garlic or 2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder or 1 teaspoon minced white or green onion
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

Place all ingredients into a 500 mL ( 1 pint) mason jar with a lid.  Shake to mix.

Store in the fridge for up to a week.