Ranch Dressing

I have always been a "Ranch Dressing" girl. It was my mother's favorite and copious amounts were kept in our house for a multitude of applications. Salads, veggie dip, spread on a burger, dip for fries, hot wings, you name it, I've probably at least thought about putting ranch on it. It is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. Creamy, rich, with just the right amount of bite. I could bathe in it. No, seriously, I could.

Because I love this stuff so very much, I'm insanely picky. If we're out to eat, I always ask for a ranch salad, because restaurants always have the best tasting ranch dressing. Why? Because they make it from scratch, people! Ditch the bottle and try this, just once and you'll never buy a bottle again!

Here is my method:

2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup parsley**, chopped
1/3 cup chives**, chopped
salt
pepper

Take just a moment to sprinkle a bit of salt on the garlic clove and use a fork to mash it to a paste. Combine the sour cream, mayo, garlic paste, parsley, and chives in a bowl and mix well. Add in buttermilk until you get the consistency you want. If it seems a bit thick, just add more buttermilk. Add salt and pepper to taste and then tuck it in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors really come together.

**Use fresh herbs, they really do make the difference. You can buy both at the store, already cut and washed and ready to use. I prefer to grow my own, making this a far more economical choice than buying bottles of pre-made dressing.

Creamy Gorgonzola Dressing

I have a not-so-secret love of salads. They're bright, fresh, and easy to make. My husband, on the other hand, really is more of a "Meat and Potatoes" sort of man. It isn't that he won't eat them, they just aren't something he asks for regularly. So, often, it's impractical for me to keep bottles of salad dressing on hand, because, though I could eat a salad every day and be very happy, I can hardly go through 1 bottle of salad dressing, which sort of kills any attempt at variety.

My solution to this issue is that I just make my own dressing in small quantities. This way, I can have a different dressing whenever the mood strikes. I'm really more of a ranch dressing sort of girl. Shocking, I know! Seems like ranch is the official dressing of California. We put it on everything, salad, carrots, fries, etc. I've even heard some people put it on pizza, which I find revolting. But, if that's what gets you clucking, have at it, little chicken.

But, sometimes, I just don't have any ranch on hand and have to improvise and last night was one of those nights. I came up short on time to make dinner for our family of six and defaulted to "rabbit food" and threw together a salad. Only issue was, I had no ranch and found some Gorgonzola in the fridge that cried out, "USE ME!". And, that's just what I did.

Here's my method:

2 oz of Gorgonzola cheese
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 tsp rice vinegar (sherry vinegar is more traditional, but I never have it on hand)
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp black pepper

Chuck it all in your blender and flip that sucker to liquefy! Give it a taste and add more pepper if you like or stir in an extra ounce of cheese crumbles if you like it chunky. Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.