Time to resurrect Friday Food. Now that fall is here I’m back in the mood for thinking of food prep. Summer is tough for me. Many times I don’t feel like eating, so I don’t feel like going near the kitchen or even thinking about food. But in the fall, my mind turns to crock pots, and soups, and homemade breads, and all the yummies we love to bake.
But since it’s still pretty warm out, AND since our meals have a nice, large fresh salad, at their foundation, I figure I’ll re-kick off this category with a favorite homemade Good for You-Naturally! dressing.
Lisa’s Ranch Valley Dressing
1 c. homemade mayo (recipe below – use full recipe)
1/4 c. almond-rice not-milk (or other milk/ buttermilk substitute)
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 – 2 t. dried parsley
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. unrefined salt (Real®, himalayan, celtic)
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. onion powder
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. dried basil
(adjust spices to taste)
Blend, shake or mix well. Refrigerate. Makes approx. 1 1/4 cups.
If you have a recipe that calls for the Ranch Dressing mix (the dry ingredients in a packet) eliminate the mayo, not-milk, and lemon juice, and add 3-4 T. of soy or rice milk powder (try Better than Milk brand.) If you want to make the dry mix ahead and later make the dressing, add the lemon juice, mayo and 1/4 c. pure water to this mix.
Lisa’s Homemade Mayo
1 egg
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1/8 t. unrefined salt
1/2 t. dry mustard powder
(opt. dash white pepper)
1 c. extra virgin olive oil (may taste strong) or expeller pressed safflower or grape seed oil (Mayo is about the only recipe I’ve found that does not work well with coconut oil, a more solid oil. It can be done, but is different type recipe and not as successful, IMO.)
Put all ingredients except the oil in blender or food processor with 1/4 c. of the oil. Begin blending and slowly pour in the remaining oil in a steady stream. The mayonnaise will thicken quickly. Turn machine off.
If it curdles or doesn’t thicken, return 1/4 c. of the mayo to the blender with another egg and add the remaining mayo just as you did the oil, the first time. Refrigerate.
Makes approx. 1 cup
Keeps approx. 10 days refrigerated
Enjoy!
For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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I’m like you with food in the fall and winter. That’s when I really like to be in the kitchen.
The girls and I tried making our own mayo some time ago and it just didn’t thicken. I’m not sure what went wrong. I never got back to trying again but now I think I will.
We love Ranch dressing so I’d like to try your recipe. When I’ll get to it I can’t say but I’m going to print out your recipes if that’s ok.
Blessings!
DJ,
Sometimes my mayo doesn’t thicken up, but by re-doing it with another egg (as described in the post), I’ve never had it fail to thicken that second time.
My dc love Ranch too. We’ve only found a couple that I’m OK with the ingredients of, but not around where we live, and still they are processed in the bottling and expensive! This is much better for us AND a whole lot less expensive.