I have never liked ranch dressing in the bottle, much preferring the kind where you place the dry mix into sour cream, and many, many years ago that was Hidden Valley Dip Mix.
Recently, just out of curiosity I decided to check the package ingredients for old times sake: Maltodextrin, Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Dried Onion, Dried Garlic, Spices, Modified Food Starch, Less than 2% of buttermilk, calcium stearate, natural flavor (soy).
Ew. Not to mention it's incredibly expensive!
It is so easy to make a very good tasting ranch dressing for much less using real food ingredients, and I'll bet you have most of these items already in your kitchen!
Homemade Ranch Dressing Dip
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup yogurt (GAPS Legal needs to be homemade and fermented at least 24 hours)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley [affiliate link] flakes
pinch of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Mix and refrigerate about one hour to allow the flavors to mix. Stir once more before serving. This makes a very creamy, thick dip for vegetables.
Fresh Cut Veggies Are Supreme
One last thing… do yourself a favor and never buy ready-made trays of vegetables. I understand sometimes it's necessary but a store bought, who knows how many days old tray of vegetables, versus a fresh cut tray, there is just no difference. At the very least, the carrots are going to be dried out or wilted, but worse the cucumbers could be starting to “go” with a slimy feel. It is just better to make your own. Yes, it takes time, but whoever you are making these vegetables for is worth it. 🙂
As you are cutting the vegetables, remember to put them together so that the colors match!
Colorful Veggie List
- Cucumber, peel and sliced thick
- Cauliflower, break into One head of cauliflower small head of cauliflower, broken into florets
- 10 radishes, sliced in sliced in half
- 4 ribs of celery, cut into 6″ pieces
- 4 carrots, peel, cut into sticks
- Broccoli, broken into florets
- 1 yellow bell pepper, remove core, slice into strips
- 1 red bell pepper, remove core, slice into strips
Presentation
Last but not least, you need a beautiful dish to display your colorful and healthy selection of vegetables. Here are a few I found at Amazon.
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup yogurt (GAPS Legal needs to be homemade and fermented at least 24 hours)
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- pinch of paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- ---------
- Veggie List
- Cucumber, peel and sliced thick
- Cauliflower, break into One head of cauliflower small head of cauliflower, broken into florets
- 10 radishes, sliced in sliced in half
- 4 ribs of celery, cut into 6" pieces
- 4 carrots, peel, cut into sticks
- Broccoli, broken into florets
- 1 yellow bell pepper, remove core, slice into strips
- 1 red bell pepper, remove core, slice into strips
- Mix the first seven ingredients and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour to allow flavors to mix.
- Stir once more before serving.