Ingredients
2 anchovy filets
1 clove garlic, grated
1/2 shallot, roughly chopped
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
3/4 c. mayonnaise
3/4 c. whole milk Greek yogurt
3/4 c. packed freshly chopped parsley leaves
1/4 c. packed freshly chopped mint leaves
1/4 c. packed freshly chopped basil
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. freshly chopped chives
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Step 1In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. Scrape down sides of the blender with a rubber spatula to make sure all ingredients are incorporated. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Step 2Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
The unsavory history of green goddess dressing The story goes like this: chef Philip Roemer of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco creates the green goddess dressing in 1923 as a tribute to William Archer’s well-loved play of the same name, The Green Goddess. The play and its subsequent film versions all star accomplished actor George Arliss, the first British actor to ever win an Academy Award. So far, so good. But look a little deeper and the racist fibers of The Green Goddess begin to come into view. Arliss, a white British actor, plays the story’s antagonist, an unnamed Indian king referred to simply as The Raja, who threatens the lives of three stranded British citizens while making unwanted advances on one of them. The rest of the cast is also entirely white, portraying Indian characters in brown face, subsequently matched with badly faked Indian accents in the 1930 adaptation. The eponymous Green Goddess turns out to be a shallow figment of white Hollywood’s imagination, a made-up deity standing in only as a plot device. While it was a popular hit during its time, it is all sorts of wrong in our contemporary framework. The truth of history can be hard to swallow. But it has to be said, and heard, so that hopefully we’ll learn and know not to make the same mistakes twice. Having learned of the full origin story of the green goddess dressing’s namesake, it does not feel right to perpetuate this name. Almost a century has passed since its creation, and we think it’s time for an update. (Additionally, knowing how much mayonnaise is in this recipe, “goddess” seems doubly misleading.) So, please allow us to present to you: “creamy green dressing.” New and improved: creamy green dressing The original recipe is said to have contained mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, tarragon vinegar, anchovies, and a whole garden of fresh herbs: scallions, parsley, tarragon, and chives. But really, as long as it’s green and creamy and delicious, you can pick and choose what you want to put into your version. In testing different combinations of herbs and ratios for this dressing, not a single version was disappointing. With lots of herbs, enough fat, and a touch of acidity, our general formula below can be a springboard for your imagination. Choose your fats Our version calls for a combination of store-bought mayonnaise and whole milk Greek yogurt. You can freely experiment substituting with sour cream, crème fraîche, or avocado to see what you like best—as long as it’s fatty and creamy. Combine two different creamy components for a more full-bodied richness. We recommend keeping mayonnaise as a constant here: its high fat content and perfect emulsion translates into a super silky mouthfeel. One tip: avoid substituting in low-fat or nonfat options because higher fat content is what helps bloom the flavors of your fresh herbs and prevents the dressing from entering overly “grassy” territories. If you like to keep it purely plant-based, you can use avocado too—just note that blended avocado will yield a thicker consistency that’s closer to a dip, and you will have to dilute with water, vinegar, or oil for more “drizzability.” Choose your herbs Tarragon is traditional to the original dressing, but not widely available in all stores. Featured prominently across elements of French cuisine, this herb is a bit tricky to grow: French tarragon produces sterile flowers, which means it can’t be grown from seed and can only be reproduced by root division or stem cuttings. Characterized by a laid-back licorice flavor, if you can’t find tarragon, you can substitute in other herbs and seeds that have a similar flavor, such as fennel fronds or fennel seeds. If you’re not a fan of licorice-y vibes to begin with, basil is a great substitute because it has the same floral taste without the slightly bitter, soapy astringency that tarragon can have. We’re using a mix of mint, basil, parsley, scallion, and chives for a refreshingly savory blend. But you do you: use whatever your heart desires (or is in stock at your market), just use enough herbs so that your dressing is beautiful in color and vibrant in flavor! Aim for about 1 ¾ cups to 2 cups of freshly chopped herbs total. Choose your acid Lemon juice, lime juice, white wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar—they’re all tart, but with a little side note of something else. Lemon juice tends to be softer and fruitier and it’s our acid of choice for this dressing. Lime juice is more floral and drier, white wine vinegar is fragrant, sharper, and more tannic than rice wine vinegar, which has a more neutralized, sweeter profile. Use what you like, or simply what you have on hand! Bump up the flavor Season generously with salt and pepper to taste, then invite in some other key players to the flavor party. Since we’re already using some lemon juice for acidity, we went ahead and incorporated some lemon zest as well to add some bright, fragrant lemony essential oils into the mix. Add in one grated clove of raw garlic and half a shallot and you’ve got just the right amount of funk and pungency to the mix. While the anchovy is “optional” here, the dressing just doesn’t own the same depth of flavor without it. Like classic Caesar salad dressing, anchovy adds a layer of earthy sweetness and aged saltiness—similar to Parmesan cheese—that pulls the fattiness together in line with the acidity and marries them into holy matrimony with all your herbs. It’s the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone—hard to put your finger on it exactly, but you’ll know something’s missing. To use as a dip, it’s perfect to serve alongside a crudité platter, roasted vegetables, asparagus fries, or even fried fish. Used as dressing, it can go on just about any salad. We love hearing from you! Leave us a comment and rating down below if you’ve made this recipe to let us know how you liked it.
