I’ve posted a very good, from scratch, Ranch Dressing recipe – with just the right amount of dill added – in my mebbe not so humble opinion; but sometimes, you are stuck with just a packet of salad dressing mix.
What to do? Why, play with it, of course!
This recipe, found on the interwebs somewhere, started out with a bit of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix, but, if you look around at your local market, you might just find something like this…
A very nice dip and dressing mix with only the good stuff and no additives, fillers, extra crap added to many packaged mixes. This mix is from a small local company and is sold at our local Woodman’s supermarket; but if you have a decent spice merchant nearby (The Spice House, Penzey’s), they can probably hook you up with an all natural ingredient dressing mix as well.
INGREDIENTS
•1 tsp Ranch dressing mix
•1 cup mayonnaise
•1/2 cup buttermilk*
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•1/8 tsp paprika
•1/8 tsp garlic powder
*As always, no buttermilk? No problem! Place 1-1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a measuring cup, then ad milk to make 1/2 cup. Stir to blend, then let rest for ten minutes. You now have buttermilk.
To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl or beaker and blend until nicely combined.
Stash in a covered container in the fridge for a couple of hours to let the flavors blend before using.
I made this particular batch of better ranch dressing to add to some mashed potatoes which were meant to support a batch of hamburger gravy – an old favorite dinner of my dad’s which I have now managed to totally transform: no potato flakes for the potatoes, no powdered gravy mix for the gravy.
My dad would be horrified, but I was pretty well pleased with myself.
Full details to come, tomorrow and Wednesday, I think…, so, gather your Ranch dressing mix and improvements today.