This is another one of my mother's popular recipes. She makes her own ranch dressing. Because it doesn't have a strange aftertaste that sometimes comes with buttermilk ranch, isn't as salty, and can be made dairy-free, it's quite popular. In fact, I know people who don't like ranch dressing at all who each this dressing. It also works great as a dip. The dip in the photograph was slightly thicker because I didn't add milk due to known food allergies of the guest of honor.
Recipe for Ranch Dressing a la Claire
1 C mayonnaise
1 t onion powder
½ t garlic powder
¼ t celery seed powder
dash red pepper
1 t lemon juice
½ t sugar (optional)[I don't ever add this.]
1 t sweet basil, dried
2 t parsley, dried
1 t chives, dried or fresh
¼ t salt or to taste
¼ C milk or ½ C milk (optional or soy, if preferred)
Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, and dry ingredients. Add ¼ cup milk for dip or ½ cup milk for salad dressing.
For 1,000 Island Dressing: Add ¼ cup dill pickles, finely chopped and 1 tablespoon ketchup.
Believe it or not, this recipe is the result of a slight misunderstanding between my mother and I. We both like roasted sweet potatoes. She heard on a cooking show one day that if you brush them slightly with olive oil and cook them at 500' for 20 minutes, they get really crispy. I agreed to give it a shot. However, I didn't realize that she had put the potatoes in the middle of the oven with it set on "Bake". I put mine on the top rack set on "Broil" and turned them at 10 minutes when they started to brown too much.
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