Roasted Garlic and Buttermilk Salad Dressing

There are so many great recipe and food groups on the internet!  I stumbled across The Daring Kitchen and am so excited to be participating in their monthly challenges, both baking and cooking.

For March’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge, Ruth, Shelley and Sawsan asked us to totally veg out!  We made salads and dressings, letting the sky be the limit as we created new flavors and combinations that reflect our own unique tastes. 

I scoured recipes looking for one we would enjoy and would be different from the vinaigrettes I usually make (because they're so quick and easy).

I found this Roasted Garlic and Buttermilk Salad Dressing in my way-back files (2007) from Juenessa at Food.com.   When I saw it had roasted garlic, I decided that it was the one to try!

OK, no secrets here . I had never roasted garlic before, although it always sounded like a good idea.  Luckily the recipe includes instructions to do so and it came out great - creamy and almost sweet.

After blended together and refrigerated for awhile, the dressing became a creamy, delicious addition to our little romaine and chopped pecan salad. 

The parmesan gives it almost a Caesar dressing texture and the fresh lemon juice makes it perfect.  It goes beautifully with thick, crunchy romaine lettuce.  Thanks to Ruth, Shelley and Sawsan for expanding my dressing-making horizons!

Roasted Garlic and Buttermilk Salad Dressing should definitely be on your salad dressing radar!

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Roasted Garlic and Buttermilk Salad Dressing

Yield: 1 ¾ Cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Outstanding creamy and delicious dressing.

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Ingredients

• 2 heads garlic
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 C mayonnaise
• ½ C buttermilk
• 7 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut top ½" off heads of garlic, exposing cloves. Place each on square of foil. Drizzle with oil, then enclose in foil. Place on oven rack; bake until garlic is tender, about 45 minutes. Open the foil and cool garlic slightly.
3. Hold 1 head of garlic, cut side down, over medium bowl and squeeze, releasing roasted garlic pulp into bowl. Repeat with remaining garlic. Mash until smooth. 
4. Whisk in mayonnaise, buttermilk, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until ready to use, up to 2 days.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

If you don't have fresh lemon juice, don't make this until you do.  Trust me on this one.

I took the garlic out after 40 minutes and it was perfect.

Even though I'm the salt queen, no salt was needed for this dressing.

Personal preference - I would probably half the parmesan cheese.

Those glands in the back of my jaw are tingling when I think of this dressing........

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 26 Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 78Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 111mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g

Nutrition Values are Approximate