Green Greens Salad with Basil Ranch Dressing
June 4, 2016
I created this salad in the mid 1970's for an "Ecology Themed" pot luck dinner. Over the years it has evolved to incorporate more modern & healthful ingredients and has become my Signature Salad Dish. It's an especially fun salad for St. Patrick's Day & Earth Day.
If you make smaller sized, individual salads or one very large tossed salad, it will be a great addition to your Christmas holiday dinner. Just be sure to add some red items to the salad, such as tomatoes, red bell pepper, radicchio, sliced cooked beets, dried cranberries, pomegranate arils etc... to make it Christmas themed & festive. Also, you can pick up some themed holiday decorations at your local craft store to decorate your salad plates and/or table. The most important thing is to make it your own & have fun with it!
Basil Ranch Dressing yield: approximately 2 cups / 8 servings
Ingredients
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
1/2 cup Hellman's Real or Smart Balance mayonnaise
1/4 to 1/2 cup organic milk, depending on how thick you like your dressing (see Tip# 1)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, loosely packed
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh basil, loosely packed
8 baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Fresh ground black pepper, 5 to 8 pepper mill turns
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Green Greens Salad Base, use a mixture of any or all:
Butter/Boston lettuce leaves, torn
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Green Greens Salad Top, any or all:
broccoli florets, small bite-sized
green beans, cut up, cooked crisp-tender & chilled
snow peas, remove tips & strings, cooked crisp-tender & chilled
green bell pepper, cut into short thin strips
asparagus spears, raw, cut off bottom woody parts & cut into thirds
kiwi, peeled, sliced & quartered
sprouts - either alfalfa, broccoli or sunflower
pistachio nuts, shelled & halved or roughly chopped
For maximum visual effect; garnish with a sprig of fresh mint or few edible flowers, such as daylilies, nasturiums, marigolds or pansies.
Directions
1 Partial Basil Ranch Dressing ingredients.
2 Place all the Basil Ranch Dressing ingredients in a blender or bullet & process till smooth. Refrigerate at least 6 hours allowing the ingredients to marry & attain maximum flavor. Shake/mix before serving. Use up leftovers within a few days.
Green Greens Salad:
1 For the base of each salad, arrange your mixture of greens on a dinner plate.
2 On top of your salad base; in a decorative fashion, arrange a desired amount of any or all of the Green Greens Salad Top items in the order listed. Add any garnishes (if using) & serve.
Tips & Suggestions
1 You can substitute an equal amount of unsweetened, plain almond or cashew milk.
2 If using avocado, keep in mind that it will start to turn brown once the air hits it unless you toss it in a little lemon juice or just serve the salad right away.
3 Use organic vegetables & fruit whenever possible.
Glad you think so Nisha, thanks❣️
I love the color of this dressing and the salad looks so tempting with all the greens and nuts!
This looks so good and healthy. My daughter loves salads a lot and I liked the addition of nuts into the salad. Soon will try this. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks Pavani… hope you & your daughter like it. I often add various nuts & seeds to my salads, as you said it’s healthy!
I love green salads, they just look so appetizing! That basil ranch dressing sounds delicious. On my to make list!
I hope you try it out Jacqui & if you do I’m sure you’ll love it!
The Basil Ranch Dressing looks incredible, I can’t wait to try it. And I never thought about adding kiwi to a salad… interesting idea!
Thanks Tammy! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as we do at my house 🙂
This salad sounds so rich and irresistible! Love the bright green of the ingredients and the choices of the tops!
Thanks Silvia, I hope you love it if you try it 🙂
2 things I love about this recipe: nuts in a salad, any kind of ranch
You & me both Aimee 🙂
What a healthy salad option! I love how much green you have in it. While I’m not normally a fan of ranch dressing, I LOVE basil, so I think it’s genius to add basil to ranch dressing! I just might be a convert – can’t wait to have my kids try it too!
I really hope you love the dressing if you try it out Heather!
This looks so gooood. I have a pot of basil in my deck, now i might make this dressing and salad with it:))
I think you’ll really love the dressing Sonila!
This looks so healthy and delicious! This would be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! Yum 🙂
Thanks Ai, glad you think so!
This looks so pretty, delicious and healthy. After Thanksgiving festivities, I am ready for some healthy recipes. I love this recipe, so versatile, just add chicken and you have a meal.
Thanks for the compliments Jenny! I hope you enjoy this & have fun making it your own.
There’s so much green in here, I’m going to re-name this a St. Patrick’s Day Salad!! Seriously though.. the basil ranch dressing is going on the menu very soon. We grow so much every year and I’m sure I’ve bored my family to pieces with my usual culinary disasters!
Hi Kim, thanks for stopping by! Actually it was originally a salad I made for an Earth Day celebration, but I also serve it for St. Patrick’s Day. I’m so glad you’re going to try out the Basil Ranch Dressing, hope you love it! Simone ♥