In our home, we don't have to be dairy-free, but the dairy items we can tolerate are limited. Yogurt is one we consume in near-massive quantities. I substitute it for sour cream, and even cream cheese, in many recipes. My favorite is Brown Cow Cream Top plain. It is pasteurized, but not homogenized, which means the lovely cream floats to the top, and you can eat it off the top (yum!) or stir it back into the container for serving. It is a bit on the runny side, so I also use Greek whole milk yogurt for cooking and substitutions. I haven't found a Greek yogurt brand that is easily available and non-homogenized (probably Whole Foods sells one, but I rarely go there).
Salad is one of those things we really should be eating daily. I've gotten out of the habit, because I'm a bit tired of salad dressing, which is pretty much what makes salad edible. Salad dressings are one of the grocery store foods that are loaded with more unnecessary ingredients than real food. The other day I tried finding Catalina dressing (which we love to eat with Taco Salad) that doesn't have food coloring. I finally found one lone bottle of organic French dressing up on the top shelf. It was Central Market brand, had only food ingredients, and tasted great. Win.
Ranch dressing is one I always felt guilty about eating, because it just has so many unpleasant ingredients, including buttermilk dairy. I checked out a bunch of vegan recipes and some yogurt ranch recipes, and finally made my own blend. It turned out fantastic. I ate it with raw carrots and raw bell pepper - yum. I also ate it with homemade french fries and onion rings, which was also fantastic. I have yet to try it with pizza, ha. And it's primarily yogurt, so I'm never gonna feel guilty about eating it again.
My recipe uses Greek yogurt, which yields a thick and creamy sauce suitable for dipping. For a more runny sauce better for pouring on top of salads, use full fat yogurt that isn't Greek, or even Bulgarian yogurt, which is even more runny.
Anyway, here's my tweaked recipe for Homemade Yogurt-Based Gluten Free Ranch Dressing.
1/2 cup Greek whole milk yogurt (not low fat or fat free)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp parsley
1 tsp dill
1 tsp garlic powder (or granulated is fine too)
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
Dump all ingredients into a glass jar and whisk with a fork until blended.
