Ever since I was out in Vancouver visiting baby sister
Marnie last Fall, I’ve been experimenting with and perfecting green goddess salad
dressing. We had gone to Marcello’s, my favourite Italian
restaurant over on Commercial Drive – we love their pasta and it comes with a
salad – their version of the Italian chopped salad and I remembered it from
years before – we asked the server what it was and were told it was their ‘house
green goddess’ but that’s all they would say. Marnie texted her Italian
girlfriend, who was impressed that we were dining at Marcello’s, and asked her what
was in green goddess. After checking with her mom (the real cook in the family),
she answered back, ‘garlic, herbs, mayo, anchovies…’. Thus, began my quest.
Surprising to me, Marnie, who is an extremely picky eater, okayed the anchovies
and the garlic! After Googling for the recipe, I tried it out a couple of times
and we both thought it was suitable, but I had more experimenting to do to get
it right.
I do
find garlic troubling, so I very rarely use it and most often, I substitute
shallots for the garlic in someone else’s recipe. I have tried real, canned anchovies
and the anchovy paste – can’t really tell the difference in the finished
product so use what is most convenient – the paste, of course – you’ll find it
in a refrigerated section of the grocery store – on the box, it says, ‘refrigerate
after opening’ so I don’t think it actually needs refrigerating in the store,
but the canned anchovies also say ‘keep refrigerated’ but don’t specify the ‘after
opening’ – I wonder if it’s a case of mis-translation or is that a debate for
another day? I have seen canned anchovies in Italian food markets sold without
refrigeration. I also dislike mayonnaise – I was brought up on Miracle Whip, like the taste and, when you read the labels and compare, calorie wise, I’m sticking with MW.
You
sort of need a blender or food processor for this especially is using the
anchovies to get them broken down and I first made this in my Magic Bullet,
thinking I could store it conveniently in the two-cup container but I found it
tedious to blend as you had to take it off, unscrew the blades, scrape, stir
and mix, way too many times. My next attempt was in my 10-yr. old Oster blender,
a good piece of equipment that is stored in the bottom of my little portable
kitchen island – too much trouble to take out so don’t often use. It was virtually
the same as the magic bullet – too much scraping and stirring and then I had to
find a suitable storage container and clean up! Next time, I used my hand-held
stick blender in a 6 C tall pitcher - this was the perfect tool for the job! and
the easiest to clean!After many batches and trials, here’s my last version:
Green Goddess Avocado Dressing1 shallot, peeled and cut in half
1/2 C Greek yogurt (2% is what I use)
1/2 C Miracle Whip
6 anchovy fillets, drained and patted dry (or 1 Tbsp anchovy paste)
juice of 1 medium lemon (1/4 C)
Put all the above in tall container. buzz with stick blender until mixed well.
Flat leaf parsley, tarragon, thyme, 1/2 C, chopped (measure after chopping by hand). Add to blended mixture and stir to incorporate. I like to leave this with the herbs un-blitzed. (No salt needed as the anchovies do the trick!)
Store in 2C preserve jar with snug lid – in fridge for a week or so – it stays thick, creamy, fresh and tasty, and makes a great dip for a veggie tray as well as a salad dressing!
It goes a long way in a salad - don't over-dress!
