Green Goddess Salad Dressing
An herby salad dressing for summer
Hello!
How are you doing? I’m still feeling some good summer vibes from our recent vacation, but I’m also counting the days/hours/minutes until school starts. I’ve hit that point in summer break when I would give just about anything for a few hours alone in a quiet house without interruption.
Next week we’ll have one foot in summer break and one foot in the school year. My youngest kiddo starts school on Monday but my 8th grader doesn’t start for another two weeks. It’s not ideal, but I’m looking forward to getting back into a semi-regular work schedule next week while also having some 1:1 time with my teen. We’re planning to hit some vintage shops for school clothes, visit a book store and take a walk through the neighborhood with iced matcha lattes or boba tea.
Recipe of the Week: Green Goddess Salad Dressing
I love serving a big, colorful salad for dinner during the summer. Sometimes I serve a protein on the side (like chicken or salmon) and sometimes I just add beans to the salad for protein and also serve a baguette with butter to make the kids happy.
You don’t need a recipe for a big, colorful salad - just look at the photo below to see what kind of veggies you need! You might, however, need a good salad dressing. This summer, my family is really into creamy dressings with the flavor of fresh herbs and lemon. A perfect example is this recipe for green goddess salad dressing.
This type of creamy dressing is also a very popular dip in my house for sliced carrots and cucumbers. I don’t always follow my exact recipe for green goddess dressing; often I’ll just mix up a creamy dressing using the following formula:
1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup (a large handful) of a fresh herb like parsley, dill, basil or cilantro (or combine two types of herbs)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Optional: 1 small garlic clove, or 2 chopped green onions, or 1 teaspoon horseradish
In a small bowl, reserve 1/4 cup of the sour cream/yogurt on the side.
In a small blender, combine all of the the remaining ingredients (1/4 cup sour cream/yogurt, plus mayo, lemon juice, herbs, salt).
Blend until very smooth and bright green.
Pour the dressing into the bowl with the reserved sour cream/yogurt. Whisk by hand until smooth.
This dressing tastes best when it’s chilled in the fridge before serving. If the dressing is too thick after being the refrigerator, you can whisk in a little bit of water.
Looking for another creamy dressing? Try kefir Ranch dressing.
Dinners in Real Life
I usually share a week of real life dinners in this section, but last week my family was still on vacation so I wasn’t cooking regular dinners. Lucky me! I’ll be back next week with 5 real life dinners.
Cookbooks
Feel Good Food is Jeanine Donofrio’s third cookbook (you should also check out Love & Lemons Every Day). Her cookbooks are filled with the same light and airy photos and enticing vegetarian food that you’ll find on her blog. When I’m craving healthier recipes, the Love & Lemons website is often the first place I go for inspiration.
Some of the recipes are too aspirational for my family (my kids will never eat zucchini stuffed with farro) but many are very simple and appealing (like cheesy broccoli or white bean orzo soup.) There are also lots of salad and salad dressing combinations in this cookbook, making it a perfect cookbook for summer.
That’s it for this week, short and sweet! It feels like a miracle that I got anything written it all, with kids underfoot and the summer heat melting my brain. It’s time to crack open a sparkling water and sit outside to watch the sunset 🙂
xo
Jenny
