Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

September. Revenue pacing: on track for $850,000. Rita's face when she shows me the numbers: the reading-glasses, "I told you so" face. The fourth catering contract signed in August: a university department, 80 people, weekly. The catering arm is now: four contracts, approximately $300,000/year. The restaurant does the rest. The whole thing — restaurant plus catering — is: a real company. Not a small business. Not a side hustle. Not "the little restaurant on Gallatin Pike." A COMPANY. The company that Amber said I needed an LLC for. The LLC that Rita incorporated. The company that employs nine people and feeds thousands and started with a napkin and a cast iron skillet.

Nine employees now (Rochelle hired a part-time server for the patio — a college student named Trey who is friendly and fast and tips-out fairly and wears an apron like he was born in it). Nine people. Nine paychecks. Nine families that depend, in part, on Sarah's Table existing. The responsibility is: enormous. Not frightening — enormous. The difference between frightening and enormous is: preparation. I was frightened when I opened the restaurant because I wasn't prepared. I am not frightened now because I am prepared. The preparation is: five years of work. Five years of cornbread. Five years of Rita's spreadsheets and Rochelle's binder and Mona's hands and James's smoker. The preparation is: the team. The team is: the preparation.

I sat on the patio at 2 PM. In the original chair. Mrs. Henderson was inside (too hot for the patio, she said — "I'm not a lizard, Sarah"). I sat alone. I drank coffee. I watched Gallatin Pike. And I thought: this is mine. Not just the restaurant. The FEELING. This feeling — coffee, sunshine, the smell of cornbread drifting out the door, the sound of Mona laughing in the kitchen — this feeling is mine. I earned it. Not with money. With: years. With mornings. With: the first cornbread at 5 AM in the dark. The feeling is: the return on investment. The ROI is not in Rita's spreadsheets. The ROI is: a woman sitting in a chair she bought at a thrift store, on a sidewalk, in the sunshine, with coffee, and the feeling of: enough.

Dinner: a salad. Again. The dinner of a woman who spends all day near food and wants something that requires no stove. The salad with grilled chicken and the balsamic vinaigrette that is Earline's and the vinaigrette on the salad is: the grandmother on the greens. The grandmother on everything. The grandmother: everywhere. Amen.

When the restaurant has fed hundreds and the catering contracts are signed and the spreadsheets are finally, mercifully, somebody else’s problem for the evening — dinner becomes a salad. It has to. The dressing is Earline’s in spirit: bright, unapologetic, a little bold, the kind of thing a grandmother makes without measuring and a granddaughter learns by watching. I reach for something creamy and citrus-forward, something that requires no stove and no apology, something that tastes like it was earned. This one does exactly that.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1–2 tablespoons water, to thin as needed

Instructions

Combine. Add the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice, lime zest, garlic, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper to a blender or food processor.
Blend. Process on high until the dressing is smooth and the cilantro is fully incorporated, about 30–45 seconds. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Adjust consistency. With the blender running on low, add water one tablespoon at a time until the dressing reaches your preferred pourable consistency.
Taste and season. Taste the dressing and adjust salt, lime juice, or honey to your liking.
Serve or store. Drizzle immediately over grilled chicken salad, or transfer to a jar and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Shake or stir well before each use.

Nutrition (per serving)

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing — The Grandmother on the Greens