Are you one of those people who swoons over phrases like buttermilk pancakes and buttermilk biscuits but never actually buys buttermilk because there's nothing to do with the other 3½ cups in the carton after you've used the half cup you needed? Behold the solution.
I love salad. I eat it nearly every day, sometimes even For years, I always tossed my greens with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a little granulated onion and garlic, salt and freshly ground pepper. If I was feeling especially energetic, I would blend the dressing together first in a small Pyrex measuring cup with a fork, adding a dollop of dijon mustard or maybe some chopped fresh herbs. When I moved to the country and started growing my own lettuce from seed (it's Rather than give up dessert—or my waistline—I started making a lowfat yogurt-based concoction I dubbed Farm Dressing, since I lived on a farm and not a ranch. In summer it was full of chopped fresh basil, in winter lots of parsley. Variations abounded, and I lived on the stuff for years. The thought of buying bottled salad dressing never crossed my mind. Then one day I crossed over. I accepted a taste of Trader Joe's Lowfat Parmesan Ranch Dressing from that dangerous sample counter in the back of the store, and immediately became addicted. So tasty! So easy! So few calories! So expensive, since it didn't take me long to go through a $3.49 bottle—and I bought a lot of bottles.
Pour it on! This simple, healthy salad dressing is flavored with onion, garlic, and dill. To make a thicker dip for veggies or chips, simply add less buttermilk.
The good news is that last summer I crossed back over. I quit my Lowfat Parmesan Ranch Dressing addiction cold turkey. I'm also eating more fresh veggie snacks than ever before.
The bad news is that I'm now addicted to homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. I eat it on a whole lot more than just salad and can easily suck down a cup of the stuff in a day or two. My only saving grace? It doesn't taste good on pie.
Do you have any ranch dressing memories, stories, or recipes to share?
It's so easy to eat your veggies (garden goodness from last summer)
Lowfat Buttermilk Ranch Dressing / Dip
Makes 3 to 4 cups
**Click here to print this recipe**
The beauty of ranch dressing is that there are about a zillion different ways to make it. My version was inspired by
Cookiecrumb (she of the amazingly simple Pear Butter Recipe) by way of this moving post on Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.I'm calling it lowfat because compared to some versions—like the one I saw that was half mayonnaise—it is lowfat, and I didn't want anybody to shy away from the recipe thinking they'd have to give up dessert in order to enjoy it.
You can dress up this basic version in all sorts of ways, but what's nice is that you don't have to. I actually like it best plain. It comes together so quickly you'll even have enough energy left to mix some up when you get home at one in the morning after a 400-mile day of driving and enjoy it with your I survived the big city! bag of potato chips and bottle of chilled champagne.
Or when a salad craving hits and the
steaks are already on the grill—just drizzle some over a few handfuls of fresh spinach or arugula (so easy to grow) and you're good to go.That said, the flavors of this dressing definitely improve after sitting in the fridge for a day or two. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that the last dregs of the previous batch didn't always taste better than the new one because I'd done something differently, but simply because they'd been allowed to mellow.
I even eat it on freshly laid eggs.
Homemade buttermilk ranch dressing just might be the most versatile Superbowl party food: drizzle it over nachos or quesadillas; dunk your Buffalo wings, fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, or fried zucchini and mushrooms in it; use it in coleslaw; slap some on a burger; or even put in on pizza (something I learned from Lisa the Homesick Texan, who makes
her dressing with cilantro, serranos, and lime juice).And of course it's a great all around dip for vegetables and chips.
This recipe makes 3 to 4 cups of dressing, which might seem like a lot. It's not.
3/4 cup sour cream (I use lowfat)
3/4 cup yogurt (I use lowfat—homemade yogurt is wonderful)
1/3 cup mayonnaise (I'm a Hellman's/Best Foods girl)
1 teaspoon granulated garlic (or garlic powder)
1 teaspoon granulated onion (or onion powder)
1 slightly heaping teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon salt (my organic mineral salt is pink)
Freshly ground pepper
1 to 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (I like white)
1 to 2 cups cultured buttermilk (I use lowfat)
Optional additions:
Fresh dill rather than dried
Chopped fresh parsley
Chopped chives
Chopped scallions
Minced shallots
Minced garlic
Fresh basil
Fresh or dried oregano
Other fresh herbs
Fresh lemon juice
A little lemon zest
A dash of Worcestershire sauce
A smidge of dijon mustard
A pinch of cayenne or paprika
Finely shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese
In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combine the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, granulated garlic, granulated onion, dill weed, salt, and several grinds of pepper. Mix well.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar and then 1 cup of the buttermilk. Add up to 1 cup more of buttermilk, depending on whether you want a thicker dip or a thinner dressing.
Adjust the seasonings to taste, adding another tablespoon of balsamic vinegar if desired, along with any of the optional additions. Keep in mind that the flavors will become bolder over time.
You might enjoy my other dressings and dips:
Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
High Kickin' Creamy Tomato DressingAll Purpose Arugula Cottage Cheese Dip/Spread/Sauce
Chives and Herbed Yogurt Cheese Dip
Fiesta Cottage Cheese Veggie Dip
Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip
Quick Refried Black Bean Dip
Radish Cream Cheese Dip with Parsley, Scallions, and Feta
Ridiculously Easy White Bean and Basil Pesto Spread
Sour Cream and Onion Dip (and foodie travel)
White Bean Artichoke Dip with Rosemary and Kalamata Olives
Still hungry? You'll find links to all my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.
© FarmgirlFare.com, the drenched in dressing foodie farm blog where Farmgirl Susan shares recipes, stories, photos, and addictions from her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres.
