Earlier this summer I officially hit salad boredom; I honestly don’t think I could have choked down another garden salad if you paid me money. It was unfortunate timing since there were a ton of lovely fresh vegetables coming out of our garden. I really just needed to mix things up. So, while reminiscing about this fabulous homemade ranch dressing I had while on vacation, I decided to find a recipe and make it myself. I wasn’t holding out much hope that any recipe I made would come close “vacation ranch dressing” but I really had nothing to lose. I did a little research and decided to combine a few recipes to make my own version. The key is fresh herbs even though most of the recipes I researched called for dried. Result? It actually tasted pretty close to the dressing I had on vacation! This will definitely be in my salad dressing rotation. A couple notes: start with 1/2 a cup of buttermilk and add more only if you think it’s too thick. You can also add lemon to taste but I opted not to add it.

1/2 to 3/4 cup of buttermilk

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt

2 heaping teaspoons of finely chopped fresh chives

1 heaping teaspoon of chopped fresh dill

1 heaping teaspoon of chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (I start with 1/4 and then add if needed)

1/4 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper

Fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste (optional)

In a medium bowl add all ingredients except the buttermilk. Wisk until blended. Wisk in 1/2 cup of the buttermilk and add more if you want a thinner dressing (keep in mind you may need to add more salt). Taste best when chilled for an hour or two before serving.