As a kid, I remember watching an episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy gets so many compliments for a salad dressing she’s prepared, that she and Ethel Mertz decide to go into business together as salad dressing moguls.

They bottle a creamy white concoction, and of course, as they say, ‘hilarity ensues.’ Shades of things to come, I was less interested in the comedy and more interested in fantasizing about how that savory milkiness might taste, sluicing just about anything one might bring in from the garden.

My fantasy became reality a few years later when a Ranch Salad Dressing hit the market in the form of seasonings in a pouch requiring only the addition of mayonnaise and milk.

Later, it was even easier to buy the dressing in a bottle. But, as time went on, I became disenchanted with the stuff — it seemed to have changed over time — more cloying than seasoned herbaceous-ness.

It seemed to me that the recipe had been altered from the original. Maybe it hadn’t. It may be that it just no longer matched my memory of a Lucy fantasy fulfilled.

So, I set out to reinvent my original, real or imagined, experience with the stuff.

Capturing my original enchantment with Ranch Salad Dressing, this dressing is like a soft, white, cotton sundress on a warm summer day.

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Ranch Salad Dressing

This dressing pairs well with crudités as a dip, and makes a wonderful coleslaw which I like to prepare by combining purple and green cabbage, shredded carrot, slivered radish, sliced ripe olives, chopped tomatoes, and sliced green onion. It does call for a couple of my favorite ingredients, Spike Vegit Magic Gourmet Natural Seasoning and Vege-Sal Spike Natural Seasoning, but you could replace the Vegit with a salt-free Italian herb blend and onion powder to taste and replace the Vege-Sal with celery salt to taste. The result will be different, but not bad. Vegit gives the dressing a nice toasted onion flavor which may be an acquired taste for some — you may wish to start with half the amount called for in the recipe. © The Working Lunch Project

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Course

Lunch

Prep Time

10 minutes

Passive Time

3 hours

Servings

1/4 cup servings MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Vegit or your own combination of onion powder and your favorite salt-free herb blend
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Vege-Sal or celery salt
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed even if you opt for celery salt instead of Vege-Sal*
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Montreal Steak Seasoning or other steak seasoning
• 3 good spashes Cholula Original Hot Sauce or other red hot sauce
• 1/4 cup,packed finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Course Lunch Prep Time 10 minutes Passive Time 3 hours Servings 1/4 cup servings MetricUS Imperial Ingredients 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup sour cream 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon Vegit or your own combination of onion powder and your favorite salt-free herb blend 1 1/2 teaspoons Vege-Sal or celery salt 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder 1/2 teaspoon celery seed even if you opt for celery salt instead of Vege-Sal* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon Montreal Steak Seasoning or other steak seasoning 3 good spashes Cholula Original Hot Sauce or other red hot sauce 1/4 cup,packed finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

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Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
2. Transfer dressing to a container with a lid and chill in refrigerator several hours to allow flavors to meld. Use within 1 week.

Recipe Notes

Nutritional facts per serving:

238 calories

23g fat

1158mg sodium

6g carbs

0.1g fiber

4g protein

 

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