Homemade Ranch Dip & Dressing

I don't think you can have a summer spread without crisp veggies and a homemade ranch to dip them in! Ranch is also basically my favorite summer salad dressing - I just find it so cool and refreshing. 

Ranch dip and ranch dressing have become classic flavors that a lot of us could not picture life without  But do you really need to buy it in a bottle?  I don't think so.  It's so easy to make from just ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry & fridge, there's really no need to ever buy it again!

This is a light and tangy sour cream & yogurt based Ranch Dressing recipe.  A lot of ranch recipes call for mayonnaise. Now don't  get me wrong - I LOVE mayo.  But not in ranch.  I want my ranch dip to be light and tangy.  And by light I don't mean low fat - you'll notice that I'm using full fat sour cream, yogurt, and milk - but I mean not oily, not heavy, not that richer flavor that comes with mayo.  I just prefer it this way.  But honestly you could take this basic blend of seasonings and add it to whatever combination of cream/yogurt/mayo/milk/etc. that you like.  It will taste great. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup sour cream (get some real sour cream, not one with a bunch of thickeners and extra stuff)

• ½ cup plain whole milk greek yogurt

• Up to 1 cup whole milk, depending on whether you want this more for dipping or pouring

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons dried parsley

• 1 tablespoon dried chives

• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill

I wanted this to be a recipe that I could make with things I always have in the house.  A lot of recipes call for buttermilk, but I don’t usually have buttermilk just hanging out in my fridge.  You could certainly swap out the milk + lemon juice for buttermilk if you have it or prefer it, but I like flavor of the lemon juice anyway.  You don’t have to include the yogurt, you could just use all sour cream, but I like the tanginess that the yogurt adds.  The quantities of seasonings are definitely all about personal taste.  Sometimes if I’m looking for more zing I’ll add a lot more of some or all of the seasonings.  

So, in keeping with my usual style, this "recipe" is more of a guideline to get you started. 

Directions for Dressing: throw all the ingredients together and mix well.  I like to make mine in a Blender Bottle, it’s easy to mix and easy to pour out of.  But you can just as easily mix in a bowl with a whisk, and then pour in a jar.

Directions for Dip: mix together everything except the milk.  Then add milk a little at a time until it's the thickness that you want for dipping. 

The milk is where you can control the thickness – if you want a thick dip, don’t add the milk at all (and I would cut back on the lemon juice a little).  If you want a nice, pour-able dressing, add up to a cup of milk. If you’re going to leave out the milk altogether (and most of the lemon juice), then the blender bottle probably won’t work as it will be too thick, I would just put it all in a bowl and stir until well mixed.

You can totally make this right before serving, just try to let it sit for at least 10 minutes or so.  But it’s really better if you can make it ahead.  This is a big recipe – double the size of some of the original ones I looked at for ideas. If you're making dressing it will give you enough for several salads, or it will be a good size bowl of dip for a party. If I’m going to make something I always like to have extra.  Making something from scratch does take a little more time than just opening a bottle, but if you've made extra then the next time you want it you do get to just go to the fridge and open a bottle.

If you want to make this even faster the next time - just go ahead and double, triple, quadruple the dry ingredients and store them in a jar. Then all you have to do is mix it in with the wet stuff.

Enjoy!

These are no ordinary deviled eggs: Soy & Wasabi Deviled Eggs

Never let it be said that I don't love the classics. Deviled eggs are one of my all time favorite things. There is no other preparation of eggs that somehow tricks you into downing a half a dozen eggs without even realizing how much you've eaten. There are reason why some recipes become classics that keep appearing year after year - because they are that good. I love them so much - when I was pregnant a friend used to make a batch of them for me and just hand me the container every time she would see me. When you're pregnant with twins you don't even have to share!

I love the original way to make them - when I am making classic deviled eggs I keep them very simple - a little salt and pepper, a bit of mustard, and my secret ingredient (which also makes amazing potato salad) is a little splash of the juice out of a jar of dill pickles. No pickles in the eggs! Just the juice. Try it, trust me. 

But every now and then, I like to shake things up a bit. My deviled eggs made with soy sauce marinated eggs and wasabi mayo definitely fill that bill. I made a batch of these with leftover Easter eggs last year and they were a huge hit, so they are definitely on the menu for this year. This is a great way to use up those eggs in a way that you won't get tired of. They are far from ordinary.

But they are certainly not just for Easter - these are a great way to please a crowd any time of year. They are easy to make and one of those little appetizers that will really impress, but you'll know that they were actually quite simple. 

This recipe does require a little bit of advance preparation - marinating the eggs in soy sauce ahead of time. I've got a whole recipe just for that. But don't worry, it's super quick and easy. And you'll also need to either make or acquire some wasabi mayonnaise.  Once you have those two pieces - then these come together in no time. 

Wasabi + Soy Sauce Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:

1 Dozen soy sauce marinated eggs

1/2 cup wasabi mayonnaise 

1/8 teaspoon salt

Hot sauce - to taste (Sriracha, or whatever you like)

You can read my quick version of wasabi mayo here, or you certainly can use a store-bought one. 

Directions:

As you would with any other deviled egg recipe - carefully slice your cooked and marinated eggs lengthwise and pop out the yolks. Put the yolks in a bowl and set the halved whites aside.

With a fork, mash the yolks a little and then add in the wasabi mayonnaise and salt and mix well. Then just carefully spoon the mixture back into your halved eggs, distributing evenly across all of them. I always inevitably break at least one the yolks, but that just means that I get a snack. 

Top with a dot of your favorite hot sauce - Sriracha or other Asian style hot sauce goes well with the soy and wasabi flavors here.

That's it. Too easy.  

Soy Sauce Eggs

People seem to fall into two very distinct camps when it comes to boiled eggs - you either love them or you hate them.

As for me - I never met an egg I didn't love. I'm somewhat obsessed with them. My husband and I can go to a restaurant and he knows immediately that if there is something on the menu that boasts an egg of any sort on it or in it, that is definitely what I will be ordering. I love them.

One of my very favorite things is when I go to an Asian restaurant and order some kind of ramen or noodle soup dish and they serve it with a perfectly soft cooked and soy sauce marinated egg floating in the bowl. This is seriously top notch comfort food.

Let me just tell you - if you like eggs, and you like soy sauce, but you haven't yet tried combining the two flavors - you are seriously missing out. 

This is my version of a soy sauce marinated egg. If you haven't had them before - it's a bit like a pickled egg, but with added flavors from seasoned vinegar and soy sauce. As with everything I do, I took other recipes and methods that involve more ingredients and more preparation and I've distilled it down to what I think is the quickest and simplest way to get the same kind of flavor in as few steps as possible.  

This is the quick and easy road to satisfaction.

Soy Sauce Marinated Eggs

You'll need a clean quart sized jar for this, or similar sized container. 

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen boiled eggs - cooled and peeled. Go here for my fool proof method of cooking eggs so they peel perfectly every time. I love to do these with soft cooked eggs, but this is a PERFECT use for all those extra dyed Easter eggs that you don't know what to do with!
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar (you should be able to get this in the Asian section at any big grocery store).

Directions:

If you haven't already cooked your eggs, do that first. If you follow my method, you can have soft cooked eggs peeled and ready in no time. They don't have to be perfectly cool to do this, just cool enough to peel. 

Carefully place all your eggs in a quart sized jar, or similar container. One quart sized jar will hold 1 dozen large eggs. Or keep one out if you think you can't get them all in without squishing too much. 

Add the vinegar to the jar. Then combine the soy sauce and water together and pour that mixture into the jar until it's filled to the top. Depending on the size of your eggs you might not use quite all of this. If you do use it all and you still have room at the top of your jar, add a bit more water. Or if you want a little extra flavor, you could top if off with more vinegar instead. 

Close the jar tightly, give it a few gentle turns to get the soy sauce and vinegar mixed together and distributed around all the eggs.

Refrigerate and marinade for as long as you can stand it. A couple hours is enough to start, but these will keep for weeks too and the longer they sit the more flavorful they get. 

These are amazing for snacking on straight out of the jar. I've had one for breakfast every day this week.

Or you can take this to the next level and use these marinated eggs for a whole new twist on the classic deviled eggs.  

This is after marinating for only a little over an hour. 

This is after a full 24 hours.