A healthier take on green goddess dressing. This swaps greek yogurt for mayonnaise, and add in some of the earliest, freshest, wild green herbs of spring. |
I don't know why it never occurred to me before, to make a dressing using edible weeds. It seems like such a simple, obvious idea; but then sometimes its harder to think of the simple stuff, right?
A green goddess dressing seemed like the perfect homage to spring. In name, anyway.
The original "green goddess" dressing dates from the early 1920s, and was named for a famous play, not because of it's use of natural, fresh spring ingredients. In fact, the original green goddess dressing is none too healthy, being mostly mayonnaise thinned out with a little vinegar, and given the barest green tint with a few herbs.
This version remedies that by removing the mayo, adding in greek yogurt, and kicking up the herbs to be the major ingredient, rather than just a flavoring. Plus, I used wild foraged herbs, ones that you can most likely find in your own backyard.
Henbit can easily take over an entire field, turning it to soft purple. I love it for it's abundant growth (great for sustainability) and for it's strong, herbal flavor. |
I chose to use cleavers, (Galium aparine) and henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) because they both have such strong, herbal flavors. There's also a TON of garlic in this dressing, so it packs a ton of flavor. If you don't love garlic as much as I do, cut my amount by half.
Any strongly flavored wild herb would probably do well in this dressing, like creeping charlie, wood sorrel, lemon balm, bergamot/bee balm, speedwell or goldenrod (later in the year). Or if you like milder flavors you could try nettles or docks.
Veggie burgers: it's what for din. . .I mean lunch. |
I've been enjoying this dressing on EVERYTHING this week: salads, meat, and it's versatile enough to double as a dip (really good for cucumber slices and crudités).
I made it in tandem with these chickpea and curly dock burgers that I posted the other day and they've been a great, quick lunch to heat up as needed.
Cleavers are one of the most robustly-flavored wild herbs you can gather. |
Green goddess dressing made with greek yogurt and backyard weeds
Makes about 3 cups, can be halved. Total time: >10 minutes.3 cups of packed cleavers
2 cups of packed henbit
10.5 oz. plain, unsweetened, fat-free greek yogurt (2 individual-size servings)
4-5 bulbs of wild garlic, or 4-5 cloves of cultivated garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
juice of half a lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add in your cleavers and boil for about 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add in your henbit and blanch for another minute. Drain.
- Working in batches if needed, add your cooked greens and all other ingredients to a food processor.
- Dressing will keep in the fridge for 5 days. Remember to store in glass, not plastic or metal.
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ReplyDeleteIt`s sounds like it`s not only tasty additionally it`s less work than I thought so worth to try.
ReplyDeleteYes! I am the queen of recipies that don't take a whole lot of effort, lol!
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