Spring Greens Salad with Low Fat Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

I am all about spring vegetables these days. But, I am not going to lie here, this post is really about the ranch dressing. We all know that this is the time of year to start enjoying the fresh vegetables of the season. There is no question that asparagus should be gracing your table just about every night of the week while the fresh, local stuff is available. However, what you might not realize is that all of your veggies deserve to be paired, at least once or twice, with this simple shake-together salad dressing.

I had to smile when I saw Aimee’s and Heidi’s recipes just the other week because I am on the same wavelength. Fresh salads deserve fresh dressings. Being that I am on the baby weight loss train (and probably will be until September), last week I wanted to re-make my favorite ranch dressing into a healthier refrigerator staple. To make it so I swapped out mayo for low-fat Greek yogurt, used low-fat sour cream, and drew the line on too much buttermilk. I also used it sparingly on our salad. After all, the purpose is to add flavor to the veggies, not coat the veggies so they can’t be tasted at all!

This simple dressing came out just as tangy and flavorful as I always enjoy, but with a nice lightness to it as well. In fact, we all enjoyed it so much I whipped up a second batch and have been keeping it in the fridge all week. So far, we have used it for everything from a salad dressing, to a dip for blanched asparagus, to a spread for homemade panini sandwiches. The possibilities seems to be endless when it comes to using it up. I can already see that we might be enjoying this well into the summer months too.