People always ask me how I taught my kids to eat raw vegetables. I tell them two words–Ranch Dressing. I put a bowl of fresh veggies sticks and a bowl of ranch dressing on the table and as the kids pass by they can stop for a quick snack. I’ve been doing this for years and now they don’t think twice about raw veggies or crudités. They just eat ’em up.
Ranch Dip or Dressing
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1/3 cup light mayonnaise
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1/3 cup Togurt or dairy-free sour cream such as Tofutti
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1 teaspoon dry parsley
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1/2 teaspoon onion powder
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1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
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1 pinch salt, optional
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well. Allow to chill for an hour or so. This gives the flavors time to develop and get friendly with one another. There you go, it’s ready to serve.
If you prefer a thinner consistency so it will pour easily over a salad then add a spoonful or two of soymilk and stir to blend.
My kids used to love ranch dressing. They used it as a dip for fresh veggie sticks and also on salads. When we gave up dairy it was impossible for us to find ready-made ranch dressing that was dairy free. I tried a lot of recipes and fooled around in the kitchen a lot. Nothing gave the kids the flavor they were used to. Finally I tried my old recipe for buttermilk ranch dressing, only I used our homemade Togurt in place of the buttermilk. Voila! Success was mine. My kids love this recipe. I make it at last once a week, sometimes more often.
This recipe makes about 2/3-cup of dressing. This is a small enough quantity for us to use up quickly. If you like, feel free to double or triple the recipe. It’s great at parties with a selection of vegetable sticks. No one ever knows it’s dairy-free.
Makes 5-servings; 2-tablespoons each.
Per Serving: 56 Calories; 4g Fat (64.8% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 6mg Cholesterol; 99mg Sodium.
Calories By Percentage: 65% Fat; 26% Carbohydrate; 9% Protein.
Exchanges: 1 Fat.