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Light and Creamy Cilantro Ranch Salad Dressing

Creamy Cilantro Ranch Dressing or Dip
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To Gardens, The Bees and New Neighbors  

Here’s another way to enjoy a twist on a favorite. If you’re a fan of cilantro, lime and garlic,  what’s not to love about a Light and Creamy Cilantro Ranch Salad Dressing.  It’s lightened up in my usual go-to way, Greek yogurt replacing mayonnaise but this also takes advantage of some reduced fat buttermilk, so it’s still full of that tang we love about  ranch dressing.  This Cilantro Ranch Salad Dressing is a flavor filled way to enjoy your salad, loaded with all your favorite veggies.   We even used it to top some homemade tacos, filled with chicken and veggies.    This dressing is light on fat and calories but big on flavor and full of that creaminess we love about ranch dressing. 

With a little change it makes a great dip too and there’s none of that, “gee, I sure hit that dip hard” negativity afterwards.  Who needs that after eating a ton of fresh veggies 🍅 🥦🌽🥕?  I know you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? 

Homemade 😋

I prefer to make my own salad dressing whenever I have the time.  If you’re like us, you have an entire shelf of your refrigerator, just loaded with all kinds of store-bought salad dressings.  They’re easy to pick up and they seem to last forever.  Some are healthy and delicious, no doubt about it.  But, in many of those dressings, If you take the time to look at all the ingredients, it might scare you.  Whatever they’re made of,  most don’t read like much more than a lab experiment.  That’s especially true of the light or reduced calorie dressings.

For another fresh herb filled dressing, check out this link to a recent post.  It’s a twist on the classic, Green Goddess Dressing. Creamy Avocado Herb Dressing https://wp.me/p9KEfL-21C

The Herbs 🍃🌿 And The Bees🐝

Like most people, for us,  our herb garden is a precious thing.  You don’t have to garden on a grand scale 👩🏻‍🌾 to have a fantastic and useful herb garden.  Just plant the herbs you love and use most.  We love being able to cut our favorite fresh herbs, whenever we need something for cooking. 

As I mentioned a while ago, we’re starting to learn about bees 🐝 for our newest adventure, beekeeping.   The truth is, almost nothing grows without their help.  We just took our first class and WOW!  There is certainly a lot to learn!  Bees are so much more complex than I thought.   I feel fortunate that we found such a great instructor.  To say she knows her stuff is quite the understatement.  If you’re looking for an expert on bees, beekeeping or just curious about why bees are so important, check out her websites  https://girlnextdoorhoney.com/    and  here http://beekeepinglikeagirl.com/

But, here’s the really funny part.  Our long time and very loved neighbor recently moved.  Naturally, we’ve been crossing our fingers 🤞 and toes 🦶🏻 for good luck in the new neighbor department!  Well, here’s the funny thing……we drove 🚙 about an hour away to attend this class.  There were only about 14 people there.  But, our new next door neighbors were there too!  Can you even imagine the odds of such a coincidence.  Seriously, I had just met one of them just a few hours before the class, where are two yards join.   The strangest thing is that we could have easily attended the class if we’d not met and not even realized we lived right next door to each other.

Well, let me just say, I have a very good feeling about our new neighbors!  I mean, we ❤️ the bees 🐝 , right?

Cilantro Love 💕 

I hear there are people that can’t stand the taste of cilantro.  That makes me sad……😜Actually, there are a number of them.  Supposedly they belong in the class of “supertasters”.  Ina Garten, The barefoot Contessa hates cilantro and substitutes basil for cilantro in her recipes.  That’s the only thing I don’t like about her😁.  

Obviously, I am not a supertaster, as I like just about everything!  That’s just makes me a  supereater 😋🤣. 

Here’s a fun read on “supertasters” from NPR  https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98695984

The Recipe!

Into the bowl of your food processor or blender, add 1/2 cup of loosely packed, fresh cilantro, 2 cloves of peeled garlic.  If you prefer a less “aggressive” garlic flavor, use just 1 clove.  Let the processor work until its finely chopped.

Next, add 3/4 cups of non-fat Greek yogurt and 3/4 cups reduced fat buttermilk. 

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own.  Just add 3 tablespoons of vinegar to 3/4 cups of milk and let it sit for a few minutes.  The milk will curdle and thicken and the vinegar will give it some of the tang you get from real buttermilk.

Add the zest and juice of 2 limes, 1 teaspoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 2 teaspoons of dried dill weed.  If you have fresh dill, use 3 tablespoons instead of 2 teaspoons of dried.  Next, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 to 1/4 ground black pepper, according to your preference.

If you like your dressing with a little heat, add 1/2 of a small jalapeno.  Remove the seeds and the veins and chop it before adding to the processor.

Let the processor work until everything is very smooth.  Taste and adjust with seasoning if needed.

Enjoy!

Light and Creamy Cilantro Ranch Dressing and Dip
Light and Creamy Cilantro Ranch Dressing and Dip

 

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