Creamy Salad Dressings

            About the time my youngest got into high school, I gave up buying bottled salad dressing, for two reasons. First, as a family, we ate so much salad that we were always running out. Secondly, and most important, we were finding it harder and harder to find dressings that we found palatable. Most were either too vinegary, or too gelatinous. And, they're expensive!
            We all prefer creamy dressings to vinaigrettes, so I started experimenting with different combinations, using mayonnaise or sour cream as a base. The idea was to use ingredients that were always on hand, hence, never run out of salad dressing again! It proved to be so easy, that I’m embarrassed it took me so long to figure out. I usually make dressing “by eye”, and just enough for a meal. For simplicity, though, I put measurements in here. 

Basic Ranch 
Yields about 1½ cups

1 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup milk

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. black pepper

Dash garlic powder
Parsley, marjoram, sweet basil, savory, etc.

 Whisk together mayo and sour cream. Add pepper, onion and garlic powders, whisking until well blended. Taste as you go. Stir in herbs, to taste. (Parsley, marjoram and basil are friendly. You can use them quite liberally and they won’t overpower your food. Be sparing with thyme or oregano, however. A little goes a long way.) Thin with small amounts of milk until desired consistency is reached. Chill for at least 15 minutes.

Creamy Blue Cheese       A kid friendly blue 

Make Ranch dressing, above, using parsley only.

Fold in 3 oz. crumbled blue cheese.

Run in blender or food processor for a minute, if you want a smoother texture

Refrigerate for at least an hour to develop flavor.

Thousand Island                 Great French fry dip, sandwich spread…

Stir to combine:

1 cup ranch dressing

½ cup sweet relish, well drained

1 tbsp. ketchup

¼ tsp. black pepper

Blue Island                     My husband’s favorite

Make Thousand Island dressing, above.

Fold in ½ cup coarsely-crumbled Buttermilk Blue cheese

Regular blue cheese can be used, but the buttermilk blue is wonderfully mild, yet intense. The longer it chills, the better the flavor.