Creamy Herb Ranch Dressing Recipe
By Marlo Colletto (TC3 Farm CSA Member)
Salads are a summertime staple and the first thing I thought of when scoping out the lettuce, cukes, and herbs in this week’s share. Rather than create a recipe for something as simple as a toss salad however—by definition a dish meant to be thrown together in haphazard abandon—I thought I would focus on the dressing. I’m a CSA veteran and veggie fan, but if I’m honest, I still eat salad half for the drizzle of dressing on top. My usual crutch is a simple apple cider vinegar/olive oil mix with some spices and a little soy sauce thrown in, but this time around that just wasn’t cutting it. With herbs in hand, I improvised a creamy homemade ranch instead, incorporating some TC3 Farm herbs (in this case an odd smattering of parsley, basil, and rosemary) into it as well as a head of mild un-cured garlic. Again, and I know I stress this a lot, the recipe below reflects what I had on hand. It can be easily altered to suit—substituting other herbs, combining vinegar and white milk to make faux “buttermilk” or trading sour cream for plain yogurt.
Directions
- Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk in a medium bowl.
- Mince herbs and garlic and add them to the dressing mixture along with the rest of the spices and other ingredients.
- Stir well.
- For best development of flavors, refrigerate dressing for a few hours before serving.
And, done! Pour over greens as desired or combine with feta, cucumber, tomato, and minced red onion for a light Greek treat.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup buttermilk
- Approximately ¼ herbs
- 1 head uncured garlic (or garlic powder to taste)
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Fresh black pepper to taste