Delicious Homemade Ranch Dressing Dry Mix

Here is a quick and easy substitute for Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing dry mix you can make at home in about 5 minutes. This is handy to always have on hand for a quick dressing or dip.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup powdered milk
1/3 cup of dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients together with a fork until blended.

You can store the dry ingredients in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a year, or in refrigerator for up to 3 months.

TO MAKE RANCH DRESSING:
Combine 1 tablespoon of seasoning mix with 1/3 cup mayonnaise and 1/3 cup of buttermilk, and whisk to combine. You can also substitute plain yogurt for the mayo.

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use regular milk with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. Mix well and let stand 5 minutes before using.

Note: 2 tablespoons of this dry mix is the equivalent of one package of store bought mix.

Salad Dressing

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Hot Pepper Jelly / Jalea de Chili Picante

Found some beautiful sweet peppers at the Farmers' Market (Feria del Agriculture) in Grecia yesterday, so I picked up a couple of dozen for around $3 USD. Today I combined them with the Jalapeño peppers growing in our garden to make some hot pepper jelly. The recipe makes a delicious, mild hot pepper jelly. It's just not hot enough for our palates, so next time I'm going to kick it up a notch with about 3 or 4 more hot peppers.

7½ cups finely chopped sweet peppers
½ cup finely chopped Jalapeño or Serrano peppers (about 6)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 (1.75 ounce) packages powdered pectin
10 cups white sugar

Sterilize 6 (16 ounce) canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions. You can use any combination of jar sizes to come up with approximately 96 ounces. I usually boil the lids in a large sauce pans and boil the jars in the rack of the canning pot according to the manufacturer's instructions. I then just leave the lids and jars in the hot water until ready to fill.

The easiest way to chop the peppers is in a food processor. Remove all the seeds and membranes and cut them in large chunks for the food processor. You should wear gloves to trim the hot peppers and avoid inhaling the fumes. Thoroughly mix the hot and sweet peppers together.

Place the peppers in a stock pot over high heat. Mix in vinegar and fruit pectin. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to rolling boil. Quickly add the sugar. Stir constantly and bring it back to a full rolling boil for exactly 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and if necessary, skim off any foam.

Ladle the jelly into sterile jars, to within ¼ inch of the tops. Cover with flat lids, and screw on bands tightly.

Place jars into the rack in the canning pot. The water should completely cover the jars, and it should be hot, but not boiling. Bring water to a boil, and process for 5 minutes.

Remove the jars and allow them to cool completely at room temperature.

Server on crackers, over cream cheese, or mixed with cream cheese and/or sour cream for a sweet and spicy dip.

Experiment with all green, all red, or all yellow sweet peppers for a different eye appeal.

Snacks

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Ranch or Chipotle Ranch Dressing/Dip

This is an easy recipe for a Ranch Dressing or Dip. You can kick it up a notch by adding a hot Chipotle pepper. This is delicious on salads, or wraps. One our our favorite wraps back in the old country was a chicken wrap at Hungry's Cafe in Houston. This wrap was made with a whole wheat tortilla, diced grilled chicken, avocado, feta cheese, lettuce, tomato and black beans. The Chipotle Ranch dressing makes this wrap over-the-top yummy.

Ingredients:
¾ cup mayonnaise (I use light mayo)
¾ cup sour cream (I use natilla in Costa Rica)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice (I've used key lime juice as a substitute)
¼ to 1 cup buttermilk (You can substitute with 1 cup regular milk and a tablespoon of white vinegar)
1 small bunch of chives or 2 scallions, roughly chopped (I’ve used regular onion as a substitute)
Small handful of cilantro or parsley, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Optional Ingredient:
1 dried Chipotle Morita Chili pepper, finely minced (with or without seeds, depending on how hot you like it)

Directions:
Place all ingredients with ¼ cup of buttermilk in a blender and blend for 10 seconds. Check consistency and add additional buttermilk as needed. A Ranch “dip” should call for less buttermilk, whereas a Ranch Dressing for a salad will use more buttermilk. Store the dressing in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator. It should keep for 2-3 weeks.

Sauce

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Taco Dip

My friend, Nancy Van Patten, brought this dip to our fiesta this past weekend to celebrate the inauguration of our new Rancho. I was lucky enough to get to the last teaspoon for a taste just before all the party guests scarfed it up. Yummy!

Ingredients:
2 large packages of cream cheese, softened
1 can bean dip
1 can picante sauce
Chopped lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Green olives
Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Mix the cream cheese, bean dip and picante sauce together until well blended. Spread it on a platter. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, green olives and cheddar cheese.

Serve with tortilla chips

Optionally, you can try adding onions, sweet peppers, or whatever else you want.

Dip

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Chipotle Ranch Salad Dressing or Dip *WP*

I was looking for a great low calorie, low fat, Ranch Dressing I could make without using the typical Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix as the base. I needed something I could make from scratch, using basic ingredients readily found in Costa Rica. I finally gave up my search and concocted this recipe. I first served it to my official taster, John, and he loved it. Next, I served it to 3 of the grandkids, ages 6 through 11, and they thought it was the best too. It has just enough heat to spark the appetite.

Ingredients:
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt, or 3/4 cup nonfat Greek style yogurt
2/3 cup lowfat milk
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoon extra light olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon or Deli mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons of granulated Splenda (or 1 Splenda packet)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1 dried chipotle pepper

Directions:
If using plain yogurt, place it in a strainer lined with a paper towel and place the strainer over a bowl. Let the yogurt drain and thicken for about 20 minutes.

Re-hydrate the chipotle pepper in warm water for 10 minutes. Remove the seeds and stem. Mince the pepper very fine.

In a medium bowl, combine the strained or Greek-style yogurt and all the rest of the ingredients. Chill for about an hour before serving. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Serving suggestions:
This is great on a grilled chicken salad, tossed salad, or as a vegetable dip.

If you want just a basic ranch salad dressing, leave out the chipotle pepper.

Yield: 2.5 Cups / 18 Servings

Nutritional Information:
Per Serving: 36 Calories; 2g Fat (55.6% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 2mg Cholesterol; 160mg Sodium.

WP

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