To some, The New York Times Sunday paper is the best part of the weekend.  Well, that and brunch of course.  Being that I don’t usually have leisurely Sunday mornings (Sunday’s a workin’ day) the big ‘ol edition has lost a little luster.  Sure I still try and snag the Sunday Styles section as often as I can, I usually get around to reading it by about Tuesday.

The day I look forward to most (in The New York Times world) is Wednesday. Why? The Dining section.  It’s sort of like the food & wine society pages.  There are reviews, recipes and plenty of news about which chef went where, who’s feuding, what’s hot and what’s not.  It makes hump day that much better.  A couple weeks back there was an incredibly interesting article about buttermilk.  True buttermilk – the stuff left in the churn after making butter – and the folks making it on small farms all around the country.  I’ve long since been familiar with the wonders buttermilk does for baked goods (my favorite lemon cookies wouldn’t be the same without it!) but the article really had me itching for that old standby – buttermilk ranch dressing.  I looked at quite a few recipes and decided I’d just get to it.  The gist to all of them were yogurt or mayo, buttermilk and lots of herbs.  So here’s my version of the dressing.

I had a quart of non fat yogurt in the fridge that was dangerously close to being wasted so this is a tad bit healthier version of the classic.  The finished product was pretty thin – Greek yogurt might be even better for a creamier dressing or dip.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups yogurt
1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 t salt
1 t cracked black pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 T Dijon
2 t dried dill
1 cup chopped chives
3 scallions
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves
juice of half a lemonJoin all ingredients in a blender.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.  Chill.  Using a blender will give your ranch a slight green tint – if you’d like to keep it crisp white simply chop the herbs and garlic finely and gently whisk and/or fold them into the yogurt and buttermilk.

For a great little snack roast fingerling potatoes with hot smoked paprika – a spicy accompaniment to the cool ranch dressing.