If someone were to ask me, “what’s the best salad dressing you ever had?” – I’d actually have an answer for them.
I was sitting at a local bar in New Jersey’s Long Beach Island called the Black Whale, where I was told that I “had to order the house salad.”
For reasons I’m sure you can understand, I had my doubts that this salad would be any good.
The house salad ended up being a house salad. But the house-made ranch dressing they served with it blew my mind. It came in a glass bottle that the bartenders kept within arm’s reach in the ice machine.
I should’ve known then – when they gave me enough ranch dressing to last a family of four six months – that there was a reason they bring an entire carafe of dressing for a small plate of leaves. Within a matter of minutes, the salad heap was dwindling, but I was still pouring.
I couldn’t have enough of this dressing.
I asked the waitress to see if the chef could do me a huge solid and share the recipe with me.
She came back without a recipe, letting me know the secret was a whole lot of garlic – but not just one type of garlic. There’s fresh and roasted garlic.
So after some drawn-out, nitpicky trial and error, I have created a dressing that tastes nearly identical to what I had at the Black Whale. And I’m very happy about it.
As a self-proclaimed neutral with a capital “N” on salads, it doesn’t mean I can’t still love the dressing we pour over them.
I’ll be posting several more salad dressing recipes in the coming weeks – be sure to check back & see what new concoctions I’ve managed to whip up. 😊
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I N G R E D I E N T S
Makes 1 1 / 2 pints.
- 1 / 2 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
- 1 / 3 cup whole milk
- 1 / 4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 garlic bulb + 2 cloves garlic
- Olive oil
D I R E C T I O N S
- Preheat the oven to *400.
- Cut the garlic bulb in half, rub with olive oil, and place in foil on a sheet pan or the oven rack. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes, until the garlic flesh is browned but not burnt.
- Once cooled, squeeze out the garlic cloves from half the bulb, discarding the skins. Since you already put in all the work, save the remaining half of the roasted garlic.
- Put the roasted garlic and all the remaining ingredients in a food processor, whirring until all the herbs & garlic cloves are completely emulsified.
- Set in the fridge for as long as possible so the flavors can mingle with each other. The dressing will last 7 to 10 days in the fridge.
I love Ranch dressing! I will have to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Suzanne!
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