20150703_141054In an attempt to be healthy for the fourth of July, I prepared a veggie tray with dip along with watermelon and tajin.  I wanted a light a cool, zesty cucumber ranch dip ro go along with the veggies, so searched online for a recipe, and headed to the grocery store for the ingredients.  While at the store, I read the ingredients of the Hidden Valley Ranch spice packet.  Wow.  There is a lot of processed stuff, including maltodextrin and dextrose (which are sugars) and monosodium glutimate (a.k.a. MSG, which is an amino acid).  I placed the packet back on the shelf and decided to create a cucumber ranch tip dip using individual spices instead of the packet.   Here is the result.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cucumbers peeled, seeded
  • 1 c greek yogurt (2-5.3oz container)
  • 1 small onion
  • ½ t dried chives
  • ½ t dried parsley
  • 1 T dried dill
  • ½ t garlic powder
  • ¼ t onion powder
  • 1/8 t salt
  • 1/8 t black pepper
  • 1T milk
  • ¼ t lemon juice
  • ½ t sugar

Grate cucumber into small chunks.  Place onion into a food processor and chop into small pieces.  Add chives, parsley, dill garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper and mix on pulse.  Transfer to a bowl along with the cucumbers, and stir in yogurt, cucumbers, lemon juice, and sugar.  If the consistency is too thick, add milk.  Place mixture into a container and refrigerate overnight.   Serve with cut veggies, watermelon, and Tajin.

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