Green Goddess Salad Dressing

Recipe: Green Goddess Dressing

I have rediscovered an old favorite salad dressing. April’s edition of Canadian Living featured a Boston Lettuce Salad with Green Goddess Dressing and I realized that I haven’t had that type of salad dressing in years. Penzey’s makes a Green Goddess Dressing base, and I bought a small container a few years ago but I pitched it because it was incredibly salty (although I love most of the many, many other herbs/spices/mixtures which I have purchased there).

Green Goddess Salad Dressing is credited as having been created in 1923 as a tribute to an English actor, George Arliss, who was appearing in San Francisco in a stage play entitled "The Green Goddess". Green Goddess dressing was brought to the masses by Kraft in the 1970’s, and I remember eating dinner at my parents’ house with a bottle of it in the center of the table. I really enjoyed the flavor, very fresh herb-y and creamy, but never realized that the dominant taste was due to the copious amounts of parsley. As a freshman in college, in my tiny refrigerator in my tiny dorm room, I always had a bottle of Green Goddess. My best friend Karen and I would return back at the dorm, starving, in the wee hours of the morning (those late nights at the library, you see…), cut a head of iceberg lettuce into wedges, then soak the lettuce with this dressing. Life was good. :)

The classic recipe for this salad dressing always includes the following ingredients in one form or another: anchovies, mayonnaise, vinegar, green onion, garlic, parsley, tarragon and chives. Sometimes the anchovies are in the form of anchovy paste, and often the tarragon flavor comes in tarragon vinegar. Some cooks add sour cream, others substitute yogurt.

As usual, I was compelled to cut the fat content of this recipe. That was easy enough by subbing the lowfat versions of sour cream and mayo, but the dressing turned out to be very thick and not at all pourable. So I thinned it with some lowfat half & half, which did the trick. The flavor was redolent of fresh parsley, as I remembered, and it was creamy and rich-tasting as well. As a bonus, the total fat grams went to 3grams from 13, the saturated fat from 3g to 1g, and calories from 135 to 46. Jack really enjoyed this and, remember, he isn’t really a “salad person”!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Green Goddess Dressing

Servings: 6

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

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1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup light sour cream

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

3 tablespoons lowfat half & half

2 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions -- (or 1 1/2 teaspoons minced chives)

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon anchovy paste

3/4 teaspoon dried tarragon -- crumbled

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

In a food processor, pulse the parsley a few times, then add the remaining ingredients. Process until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours for flavors to meld.

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Per serving: 46 Calories (kcal); 3g Total Fat; (60% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 8mg Cholesterol; 154mg Sodium

Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates