Make it from Scratch – Ranch Dressing!

Since our year of local began, I have been sweating it out as our bottle of Safeway Organic Buttermilk Ranch dressing got emptier and emptier. On Wednesday night, we finished it and I knew I had a dilemma on my hands: add Ranch to our list of exemptions or figure out a good recipe.

It took us months to find a good Ranch substitute for good ol’ Hidden Valley (which has MSG in it and was therefore immediately banned by the Food Additive Patrol–me), so I was really nervous as I got out the blender and started playing around. I have to admit that the following recipe, adapted slightly from Food Network’s staff recipe, was a hit with everyone in the family (even if Gabriel said it didn’t taste like “real” Ranch dressing):

1 egg yolk
3/4 c oil (I use olive oil)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup yogurt
2 T flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 T chives
1 T dill
1 green onion or 1 T white or yellow onion
1 1/2 T apple cider vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper

Put egg yolk in the blender and blend, slowly streaming in the oil until you have an emulsion that looks like mayonnaise (that’s what this is, so if you want to just use store-bought stuff, you can, just add about a cup instead of the egg yolk and oil). Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until combined. The cool thing about the fresh herbs is that this Ranch dressing is a beautiful green–tell your toddler it’s “monster ranch” and she’ll be sure to gobble it all up. Yum!

Now if only I could find local oil, I would have a truly local salad dressing…As is, this is local except for the salt, pepper & oil. Not bad!