Groovy Recipe: Totally Healthy Ranch

I am an American, so it's only natural that I love ranch dressing.  What's not natural is your typical store-bought ranch.  This is the ingredient list for Hidden Valley Ranch:

Vegetable oil, egg yolk, sugar, salt, buttermilk, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, MSG, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate

I don't even know what half that shit is.  Gross.  MSG?  Are you kidding me?  Do people still eat that?  And 2 tablespoons of HVR contains 140 calories, 14 grams of fat, and zero nutritional value.  This does not jive with my healthy, clean-eating goals.

I love entertaining, and several years ago I came up with my own ranch dip recipe for crudite (or "cut veggies," if you're not fancy like me).  No mayonnaise, no packet of mystery powder, no sour cream needed.  It's so simple and SO good.  And the best part: 2 tablespoons of my ranch has about 20 calories, no fat, and around 3 grams of protein (plus calcium).

Ingredients:

1 16oz tub of plain, nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon all-purpose seasoning (I use Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute, but you can use Mrs. Dash)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 tablespoon fresh, snipped chives*

1/2 tablespoon fresh, chopped dill*

Stir all that together.  Let set in the fridge for at least an hour, but overnight is better.  Serve.

Yeah.  That's it.  I started using Greek yogurt in place of regular yogurt a couple of years ago, because Greek contains a ton of protein, and the texture and flavor are more similar to sour cream.  If you want to use this as a salad dressing, just thin it out a bit with nonfat milk (or whatever milk substitute you have on hand - just make sure it's not sweetened).

This is my lunch today - no fat, low calorie, low salt, lots of protein, and a bunch of organic veggies:

It's upside down.  I know.  You get the picture, though.  Ha.

 

* I really recommend using fresh organic herbs, but if you don't have them on hand, just use about a teaspoon each of dried chives and dill.