Have you ever enjoyed dipping broccoli in ranch dressing? Now you can make it a broccoli salad with ranch dressing.
Broccoli isn’t just that vegetable that your parents tried to get you to eat when you were younger, it’s a “superfood” staple that should be in your kitchen! Broccoli is one of several cruciferous vegetables that are good for our health—it’s rich in fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, beta-carotene, B vitamins, manganese, and potassium.
Similar to kale and other cruciferous vegetables, broccoli contains fiber compounds that bind very well to bile acids in our digestive systems, which ultimately help to lower cholesterol, especially when cooked.
Broccoli, in general, can reduce inflammation while providing support for detoxification (especially from ITC’s), protection against oxidative stress, cardiovascular support, digestive support, and protection from certain cancers. Broccoli has overall health benefits from their antioxidants, sulforaphane, minerals, vitamins, and fiber.
The Ranch Dressing You’ll Want To Put On Everything
Yes, this ranch dressing tastes amazing mixed with a broccoli salad, but you can use this dressing on anything you like. I recommend making a large batch (double the recipe below for a larger batch) and save the rest of the week as a dipping sauce, dressing for a quick greens salad, or however you like to use ranch.
Typically ranch dressing is made with buttermilk, chives, salt, mustard, onion, garlic, dill, and black pepper. We’re keeping the recipe pretty on par with a traditional ranch except calling on cashews to replace the buttermilk. Of course, you can use buttermilk if that fits your lifestyle, but the addition of cashews is a nice texture, a great way to increase minerals and healthy fats.
In this ranch dressing recipe, it’s technically dairy-free, but contains cashews. If you’re allergic to cashews, you can try using a mix of blanched almonds and macadamia nuts for a similar taste and texture, otherwise, cashews are one of the best nuts to use in dairy-free recipes to create a creamy consistency similar to milk, heavy cream, or cheese.
The key ingredients in ranch dressing are the herbs and spices! You can use either dried herbs in this recipe, but I recommend using a mix of both dried and fresh for a more powerful flavor.
Stripped
Parsley
This flat-leafed herb is rich in vitamin C and also a good source of beta-carotene so it can help reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Sprinkle some chopped parsley on grilled chicken, a salad or seafood.
Antioxidants
Dill helps antioxidants do their job by attaching to oxidized molecules and protecting our bodies from the damage they could do. (1)
Magnesium
Magnesium is one of the many benefits of nuts, including cashews. It’s a vital mineral in the body as it plays a role in 300 cellular functions including muscle function, protein synthesis, blood sugar control, and blood pressure regulation.
It’s also been shown to help decrease PMS, and headaches, and it can also help with digestion and reducing constipation.