"Buttermilk" Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is the "go-to" dressing for a lot of people - and deservedly so. It goes well with most salads, and is frequently used as a dipping sauce as well. Any search of the internet will reveal many hundreds of recipes for making it in your own kitchen, and reading those recipes will have you humming "The Song That Doesn't End" - because they literally all have (a) nearly identical ingredient lists and preparation instructions, and (b) pretty much zero attribution.

This one is sort of an amalgam of the common parts of numerous published recipes and some basic folk knowledge - plus some of my own tweaking for taste.

Suggested Equipment:

• Your preferred blending device
  
• Common kitchen measures and tools
  

Ingredients:

1. In truth, I never use "real" buttermilk. For this recipe you can substitute the same volume of plain yogurt. Another popular substitution is to use ½ cup whole milk plus 1½ tsp white vinegar. Let that mixture stand for 10 minutes or so at room temperature, before using.
   
   
2. I use regular sour cream, not that "light" stuff!
   
   

½	cup	Butttermilk1
½	cup	Mayonnaise,	Sugar-free
½	cup	Sour cream2,	Unsweetened
1	tsp	Dill weed,	Dry, rubbed
1	tsp	Chives,	Chopped, dried
1	tsp	Parsley,	Dry, crumbled
½	tsp	Onion,	Dry, powdered
½	tsp	Garlic,	Dry, powdered
½	tsp	Salt,	Common, granulated
½	tsp	Black pepper,	Dry, ground

Directions:

1. Combine "buttermilk" and all spices in your mixing container, and blend until smooth.
2. Add sour cream to the mix, and again, blend until smooth.
3. Add mayonnaise, and finally blend until smooth,
4. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before use.

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Makes about 1¾ cups of dressing. Use it like you would a store-bought ranch dressing. As always, use it soon and often, until it's gone - our dressings have NO preservatives other than what may already be in the ingredients!