Chipotle Ranch Dressing

My husband and I have been on a spicy kick lately, so when I saw The Pioneer Woman make this on her show I knew I had to give it a try.  She served hers with raw veggies, I made mine a dressing.  This definitely has a kick to it.  I love the smokey taste of chipotle but they can be very spicy.  Luckily the other ingredients cool it down a bit and the flavor just gets better as it sits in the refrigerator.

Loads of flavor here, very herby and fresh tasting.  Creamy and smooth texture.  Love the tang from the vinegar and the slight reddish color the chipotle's give it.

Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
• 1 Tbsp fresh chives, minced
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• dash hot sauce
• 1-2 chipotle peppers, minced
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup buttermilk, or more depending on whether you're using it as a dip or a dressing.

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients together in a bottle you can shake, or a dish and whisk together until smooth.  Keep adding buttermilk until it is at the consistency you wish.  Serve as a dip with raw veggies or a dressing. 

Steak Tip Marinade

It's that time of year again, break out the grills and little plastic swimming pools.  Temperatures here are making me wish our community pool was open. We're making due with running through the sprinklers instead.  My husband decided a couple of days ago that he was going grill me some steak tips, one of my favorites!  If you're going to grill steak tips, you gotta have a good marinade and this one is awesome!

I had to stray from the recipe slightly since I didn't have a bottle of barbecue sauce in my refrigerator and I didn't want to run out.  I'd say it was a winner since these steak tips didn't need anything additional and I couldn't get enough!

We marinaded our tips for about 24 hours prior to grilling.  Make sure to pull the meat out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before grilling to they can come up in temperature.

Leave a little bit of space between the pieces so there can be even heat distribution.  We cooked ours for 5 minutes per side and they were perfect.  When you pull them off the grill let them sit for 5 - 10 minutes before eating so the juices can redistribute.

I'm telling you, you will want to try this marinade early this year so you can use it all year long, as I will be.  Love it!

Steak Tip Marinade

Recipe modified slightly from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 cup Italian style dressing
• 1 cup steak sauce (I used Peter Luger Old Fashioned Steak Sauce, found in the refrigerated section of the meat counter at my grocery store)
• 2 pounds beef sirloin tip steaks

Cooking Directions

1. Whisk all of the ingredients except steak tips together in a small bowl.
2. Add the steak tips to a dish that has a lid (or use plastic wrap).
3. Pour the mixture over the steak tips and turn to coat.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour, longer is better.
5. Brush the grill with some olive oil to prevent sticking and cook the steak tips for 5 - 8 minutes on each side or until they've reached the desired doneness.
6. Discard marinade.

Creamy Tomato & Herb Dressing

I know it's almost fall (or it is in my mind at least) but we're still focusing on eating healthier this year.  I don't know about you but I could really use a year long head start on next years beach body.  

If you're looking for a new way to dress up the boring salads that seem to make their way to you dinner table then try some new dressings.  The great thing about making your own dressings is that you know what exactly is in it and you can modify the flavors to match your tastes.  You can also only make a little at first so if you end up not caring for it you haven't committed to a huge bottle of it.  I don't think you'll have that problem with this dressing.  If you like tomatoes then you'll probably like this dressing. 

I made my own garlic oil by heating the oil in a pan and dropping a couple cloves of garlic to get slightly brown.  Let cool.

Add the ingredients into a food processor or a blender. Refrigerate.

Doesn't it look pretty? It tastes pretty darn good too.  This dressing is a nice change up from some of the  more common dressings like Ranch or Italian.

It definitely has a tomato base flavor. The herbs and vinegar make the dressing very flavorful and the mayonnaise makes it creamy.  Don't worry if you're not a mayonnaise fan because you can't taste it.  If you're still not convinced I'm sure you could substitute Greek yogurt.

Creamy Tomato and Herb Dressing
Modified slightly from "Down Home Cooking Pure Wesson"cookbook page 39

1 can (14.5 ounce) whole tomatoes, unsalted if possible (Original recipe calls for diced with garlic)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp dried parsley (original calls for 1/4 cup fresh, chopped)
(original recipe has 2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard) I didn't have any.
1 tsp sugar
2 large cloves of garlic.  I cooked mine in the oil on low heat until golden and then let it cool down before adding it to the dressing. (original calls for 1 tsp fresh minced)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

If you're using tomatoes that do not have garlic in them just do what I did.  Heat the 1/2 cup of oil in a fry pan and drop in 2 large cloves of garlic and let brown over low heat.  Let cool to room temperature.

In a food processor or a blender, add all the ingredient except the oil/garlic and salt and pepper.  Use the  pulse mode to slowly incorporate the ingredients.  Slowly pour in the oil/garlic while blending and then salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate for an hour or up to 24 hours.  Shake before serving.

Ranch Dressing

I have to admit that I've been making this ranch dressing for quite a while now; and until recently it hadn't occurred to me to actually blog about it.  I have no idea why.  Everyone who tries it loves it.  So, my reason for telling you all this is because the pictures you are going to see (see example above) suck.  I'm just trying not to sugar coat it.  Don't expect anything fantastic here.  In fact, I won't be offended if you just skip down to the recipe below.  Oh, and I should also mention that this recipe is made to my liking but feel free to add more, less or none at all of what you like/don't like.

OK, lets begin:

You'll need 1 cup of mayo.  NOT Miracle Whip!

Add to that, 1/2 a cup of Sour Cream.

You'll need all of these spices, or you can use fresh but keep in mind that you'll need more fresh spices to achieve the same taste as dried.  I recommend dried here.  It'll stay looking much prettier in the refrigerator than fresh.

It's all about looking pretty after all.

Buttermilk to thin it out.  This recipe is a dip or a dressing.  If you are using it as a dip you don't need the buttermilk, or at least not as much of it.  As a dressing however you TOTALLY need it.

That's all the pictures I took.  See? Sucky.

Here's the recipe:

1 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 Tbsp Dried Chives
1 tsp Dried Parsley
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Dried Dill
1 Cup (or more) of Buttermilk

Put ingredients into a bowl (a mason jar works fantastic here) and stir/shake until mixed well. Enjoy.