So many creamy salad dressing recipes start with mayonnaise. If, like me, you’ve never been a fan of the commercial stuff, sour cream or yogurt makes a decent base for any dressing thicker and more dippable than a vinaigrette. For a dairy-free option, I instead mix in an unexpected ingredient: avocado.
Avocado adds such richness that even mayo devotees might switch their allegiance. Avocado oil has become increasingly popular as a healthy fat. Likewise, the green flesh makes a surprisingly unobtrusive fat replacement in not just dressings and dips but also dairy-free pudding, brownies and other baked goods.
I originally developed this salad dressing as a vegan recipe, and it can still bear that label if you leave out the anchovies. These little fillets give green goddess dressing its signature umami, so extra lemon juice will likely help bolster a vegan version. For other tangy options, include a splash of cider vinegar or teaspoon of capers in their brine, or try stirring in a spoonful of miso.
I’ve eaten green goddess dressings that blend in all sorts of herbs, and basil remains my favorite. If you come up short, mix in a little parsley, cilantro, tarragon or even dill. Before they die back in late summer, I slice onion tops for any recipe that calls for scallions. Chives taste subtly different, so consider topping off the measuring cup with a handful of snipped stems.
A food processor or immersion blender easily makes the ingredients creamy, but it’s worth mixing in the extra-virgin olive oil by hand. This unrefined oil retains its polyphenols, bitter compounds that a high-speed food processor breaks up and distributes throughout the dressing. Even vigorous shaking or hand whisking is gentle enough to prevent the spread, so I recommend switching off the machine when any recipe calls for blending in unrefined olive oil.
Green Goddess Salad Dressing
Makes about 1 cup
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup sliced onion tops or chives
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 anchovy fillets (optional)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 small avocado, pitted and peeled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
In a food processor (or a bowl, if you are using an immersion blender), combine the basil, onion tops, parsley, garlic and anchovies, if using, and pulse until finely chopped. Add the water, lemon juice, salt and pepper and process until smooth. Add the avocado flesh, pulsing briefly until creamy.
Pour the dressing into a clean pint jar or bottle and add the olive oil. Cap and shake until emulsified. Taste, adding more lemon juice and water as needed to achieve the desired tang and consistency.
Serve immediately or refrigerate and use the dressing within a week. When ready to serve, let the dressing sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes and then shake until combined.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger at TwiceAsTasty.com.