Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

I like salad dressing, but most store bought ones have been irking me lately...flavor isn't right, ingredients are lousy, always something.  So I have been making a few myself.  I like this one quite a bit.


1/2 cup Dijon or brown mustard

3 tablespoons honey (or so, taste and adjust)

1/4 cup oil of choice

1 or 2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk together and use! Add more oil and/or lemon juice if you want it a bit thinner for pouring. I like storing it in an old dressing bottle as shown. Good for a marinade, like most dressings.  

 

Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is pretty tasty stuff, especially homemade.  Molly doesn't do well with all the stuff in store bought (who does?), so we've experimented with making it ourselves.  I like it with buttermilk, but rarely buy it, so I decided to try it with cottage cheese.  It worked well, good flavor and very creamy.  Good for dipping.  If you want something more 'pourable', add a bit of milk.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cottage cheese (or buttermilk)

1/2 teaspoon chives

1/2 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon dill

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion

1/8 teaspoon salt (I like celery salt here, too)

1/8 teaspoon pepper (or more, I like more)

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor or blender.  Store in a jar in the fridge.  Tastes great the first day, but even better after a day or so.  

Laura's Hummus

This is GREAT! I took the recipe from Grandma Leigh's cookbook. 

1 can chickpeas
4 tablespoons tahini
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon - juiced
1/2 teaspoon citric acid
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Put chickpeas, tahini, garlic, oil, lemon juice, citric acid, and salt in blender. Blend, add water when needed.

Carob Sauce

This is a decent chocolate alternative. We have successfully used it to dip strawberries, marshmallows and cream puffs.

2/3 cup carob powder
1/2 butter
1/3 cup agave or maple syrup
1 Tbl vanilla
1 cup of coconut milk

Gentle heat all ingredients in a good thick bottom pan or double boiler.

Olive Oil Mayonnaise

It is surprisingly easy to make your own mayonnaise.
You can make it with whole eggs or with yolks. I like to use the whole eggs. It is simpler for me.

2 eggs
1/2 tsp mustard
2 tbl lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
salt

Blend this is a blender, then slowly add olive oil - about 1 to 1 1/2 cups. It will thicken nicely, and should be a lovely yellow. Now you can use it as is or as a base for some homemade dressings.

Super Easy Caramel Sauce

This is a wonderful caramel sauce that I make to put on of all sorts of things from chocolate cake to anything with pumpkin in it.  If you are in need of an easy icing or sauce I would whip this one up.

Caramel Sauce 

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup of milk (I have used almond, rice and hemp milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter and add butter and milk and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and stir for 2 more minutes.

Most places say to serve immediately but it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

I used dark brown sugar in this one and got a nice dark sauce.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Perfect for Barbecued Pork, hamburgers, dipping chicken..whatever you like with BBQ sauce!  Easy to make, easy to adapt to meet your dietary needs.

Ingredients:

2 cups ketchup (I use a brand with no HFCS.  Some of you can't do onion, so you may use tomato paste and alter the other seasonings)

1 cup water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

8 TBS brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon barbecue seasoning (or a little liquid smoke, if you have that instead)

Mix together well and simmer for a couple of hours.  Or just use right away.  Whatever.  It will thicken if you simmer it for a while, concentrating the flavor a bit.  You will also lose a little volume.  Taste as you go to get the flavor that you prefer.  Feel free to use honey, or other sweeteners.