Avocado dip and dressing

I keep seeing posts for healthy alternatives to some classic favourite recipes.

I decided the other day to try one, an alternative for Ranch dressing.

This recipe uses avocado and plain Greek yogurt as the flavour base. This means it is healthy, but it certainly is not completely without fat. However, it is healthier than a bottled dressing. Just looking at the number of ingredients on a salad dressing label confirms that!

I am a believer in making salad dressings from scratch when I have time. I will be making this one again, but would suggest it more as a dip than for dressing – it was quite thick. We used it the first night as a salad dressing, and then the leftovers in the fridge served the next day as a dip, and a tasty alternative to mayo on sandwiches.

It was easy enough, and tasty, but for those who love a real Ranch dressing, it will take some adapting. It isn’t the same as a white, slightly runny Ranch dressing. It was quite thick, so I am going to experiment next time with some additional oil or even water to thin it out. I hate to mess around too much though, because anyone who tasted it liked it.

The key ingredients are an avocado and plain Greek yogurt. You will also need lemon juice (I used lime because that’s all I had), some garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil. I threw in some greens from green onions because I happened to have some. You will also need a blender or food processor, or some serious mashing and mixing tools.

Scoop the avocado out of its shell and put it in the blender. Give it a few pulses to mash it up, and then put everything else in and blend away!

Traditionalists will see – this dressing is not white and runny like a typical bottled Ranch dressing. But the flavour is amazing. Make about an hour before eating if you can, so the garlic has some time to work its magic!