By The kitchen is in full spring mode. The oven at 375 (always 375), the crockpot on the counter, the pantry stocked with jars from last August's canning — the evidence of a woman who preserves summer against winter and loss against forgetting and food against everything.
The recipe this week: spring risotto with peas. Standing at the stove, Marlene's wooden spoon in my hand (the cracked one, the one that will outlast us all), the recipe either from the card box or from my own expanding collection, both equally real, both equally mine. The kitchen holds all of it — the old recipes and the new ones, the teacher's food and the student's food, the grief and the joy and the cinnamon. All of it. Always.
The garden is waking up. The garlic that overwintered is pushing green shoots through the soil, the annual proof that buried things come back. Jack's seedlings are hardening off in the greenhouse. The Marlene cherry tomato — generation 8 now — ready for transplanting. Every spring the planting is the memorial. Every spring the name goes back in the ground.
With the garlic pushing through the soil and the greenhouse full of Jack’s seedlings, it felt right to put something green on the table — something that tasted like the garden before the garden is even ready to give. Green Goddess has always struck me as an honest name for a dressing: a little bold, a little earthy, made from the kinds of herbs that don’t ask much of you. I’ve been drizzling it over whatever looks freshest at the market, and some evenings, that’s enough — a bowl of spring greens, a good dressing, and the wooden spoon still drying by the sink.
Green Goddess Dressing
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 8 (about 1 cup total)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup buttermilk (plus more to thin, as needed)
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, packed
- 1/4 cup fresh chives, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
- 1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the base. Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk to a blender or the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the herbs and aromatics. Add the parsley, chives, tarragon, basil, garlic, lemon juice, and white wine vinegar.
- Blend until smooth. Process on high for 30—45 seconds, scraping down the sides as needed, until the dressing is fully smooth and bright green.
- Season and adjust. Taste and season with salt and pepper. If the dressing is thicker than you’d like, add buttermilk a teaspoon at a time and pulse to combine.
- Chill before serving. Transfer to a jar or airtight container and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to let the flavors come together. The dressing will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 105 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 2g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 185mg