Healthy Green Goddess Salad Dressing Recipe

Sharing is caring!

This Healthy Green Goddess Salad Dressing Recipe has a yogurt base that makes it better for you than the traditional mayonnaise base. This entire meal is truly farm to table and is the perfect opportunity for me to partner with the American Dairy Association North East. 

For the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to make a more conscious effort to move away from processed foods. It’s not always the easiest feat (I’m looking at you crackers!), but there are definitely some foods that have been easier than others to give up.

One of the easiest processed foods that we’ve been able to remove is salad dressings! Not only are they incredibly fast to make yourself, but they really do taste better too.

When you combine homemade salad dressing with the grilled chicken salad that I made for this post, you truly are experiencing a farm to table dinner! From the vegetables you pick from your back yard garden or from your local farmer’s market to the yogurt and cheese from your local dairy farm, you truly are eating a healthy and locally-sourced meal.

I’ll be the first to admit that even though I’ve always lived in Central PA where I’ve been surrounded by dairy farms, I’m not exactly a farm girl myself. In fact, I grew up on a Main Street and still live on a Main Street in a different town now!

But as I’ve been trying to eliminate processed foods for the last few years, I’ve also started paying more attention to where my food is coming from. This past Fall, I was invited by the American Dairy Association North East to visit a dairy farm in upstate New York.

While pretty much all of it is new to me, one of the things that stuck out the most was how much focus is put on cow comfort. And with good reason because comfortable cows produce a better quality milk!

The dairy farmer that we got to meet really went into detail about the personalities of his cows and how they get to know each one and start to recognize them. They actually had music playing for the cows to provide a more comfortable environment.

Cow comfort even extends into making sure their beds are comfortable! I mean, that’s about as literal as you can get in terms of defining the phrase “cow comfort”! But the farmers also pay attention to temperature in the barns and the diet they are feeding their cows.

All things that you might not think about when you’re purchasing a gallon of milk at the grocery store, but all things that factor into how that gallon of milk tastes! The milk your family drinks is a higher quality and more wholesome thanks to the farmers who pay attention to all the minute details.

Be sure to check out AmericanDairy.com for more information on where your dairy products come from!

Beyond the farmers, strict government standards and industry protocols ensure that the pasteurized milk you’re purchasing is wholesome, safe and nutritious. Have you ever thought about all the steps that come before it gets to you taking a drink of cold milk from your fridge?

These are all part of the farm to table movement. Really knowing and understanding what food you’re feeding your family. Where it is coming from and what benefit does it provide you?

Dairy farmers work daily to ensure that they’re providing the best quality products, because it’s also what they’re feeding their families. They live on the land, they protect the natural resources around them, and they are sustained by the land themselves.

To show my own family how delicious farm to table food can be, I decided to make one of my favorite salad dressings- Green Goddess Dressing. Except I wanted to make it a little healthier.

Normally Green Goddess Dressing begins with a mayonnaise base. I decided to try a yogurt base instead and loved the results! I went with full-fat, plain yogurt for my dressing, but you could also experiment with Greek yogurt if that’s your preference.

One of the best parts of Green Goddess dressing is that you can pick your favorite herb to make it “green”. I went with Italian parsley, but you could substitute that for dill, regular parsley, cilantro or basil. Some herbs have a stronger flavor than others so I would start by adding about 1/2 cup and then add more until you achieve the taste you want.

I used a small hand chopper to mix all of my ingredients, but you could also use a blender or food processor. Salad dressing is really so easy and versatile that I promise you will not miss the store-bought bottles!

In fact, this dressing is so flavorful that we like to use it as a dip for veggies! My husband and kids can often be found standing around the kitchen island with some carrots or cucumber slices and just dipping away into a bowl of Green Goddess dressing!

Healthy Green Goddess Salad Dressing Recipe

Be sure to PIN, SAVE and SHARE this post!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of American Dairy Association North East.