Friday, May 9, 2014

Green Goddess Dressing – Oh. My. God.

What's the difference between Green Goddess dressing and Green God dressing? Green Goddess dressing takes a lot longer to get ready. Sorry, but I couldn’t fit that joke into the voice over. Anyway, here’s my take on San Francisco’s very own, Green Goddess dressing.

This creamy, herby, addictively delicious sauce is not only my favorite salad dressing, but also one of my favorite dips as well. You can of course tweak the acidity with more or less lemon, as well as play with the salt and pepper, but please, do not change the trio of herbs. The way the parsley and chive play against the sweet tarragon makes this unlike any other herb dressing.

This is truly fit for a Goddess, and with Mother’s Day coming up Sunday, what better way to make your mom feel like one? That, and a complete spa package with extra long foot massage, and she should be set. I hope you give this Green Goddess dressing a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 2 cups of Green Goddess Dressing:
(all the following amounts should be adjusted to your tastes)
1 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1 anchovy fillets
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/3 cup chopped tarragon leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
cayenne to taste

21 comments:

Unknown said...

I will be making this for my beautiful wife on Sunday. Thanks CJ.

Lupe said...

Reminds me quite a bit of Frankfurt Green Sauce. I love eating it with hardboiled eggs and potatoes when I'm in Frankurt (Germany).

It has even more herbs than the SF green sauce: borage, sorrel, garden cress, chervil, chives, parsley, and salad burnet.

And it has its own Monument!

Unknown said...

I'm sure the anchovy gives a nice flavor. But to keep from wasting the rest of the can, is there a substitute?

Koffeekid Smalls said...

Thanks for the recipe, I have trouble finding it bottled at the market. It's one of my favorite dressings!

Chef John said...

Gerry, Why would you waste the can?? Anchovies last forever!

Judy said...

Can you not use anchovy paste instead of fillets?

I hope your plumbing issues are resolved Chef! Thanks for another yummy looking dressing to try out :)

Speaking of dressings--what herbs/spices go well when mixed into like a basic vinaigrette? I would like to start making my own Balsamic Vinaigrette and stop using the bottled stuff. Thanks!!

Unknown said...

Oh my this is a wonder of a dressing, thank you so much for the recipe. I will be making this again for sure!

Anonymous said...

John's on vacation, but I bet dollars to donuts he'd say something like, 'Sure, you can use anchovy paste', but he'd secretly be thinking 'real anchovies are better', not wanting to get involved in a complicated set of followup questions. Just saying.

As for herbs in vinaigrette, all the above and any other options that 'go together': dill and oregano, basil and dill or oregano, thyme, parsley. EXPERIMENT and see what you like! Add a teaspoon of dijon mustard to it. Shallots are good, too.

Judy said...

I mentioned the anchovy paste for the person above me asking if there was an alternative :)

I made the Balsamic Vinaigrette but it is def bland without herbs. I just put some dill in to see how that is, will add some others if it is still bland. Already had salt, pepper, and dijon mustard in it since every recipe I could find called for those. Even added in onion powder and garlic and it is still bland and mostly tastes of Olive Oil. Hopefully the dill will improve it--don't want to try all herbs at once or I won't know if I like em! Thanks for the suggestions, I am not good with knowing what herbs go well with what.

Roberto said...

CONFESSION: I just made this ....... I thought. Turns out I cut a small bunch of cilantro from my herb garden rather than flat leaf parsley. What I have is NOT Green Goddess, but it's really good. It has a sort of Mexican twang. I think I'll call it Diosa Verde

Chef John said...

Sounds great!

WoundedEgo said...

Any suggestion for replacing the tarragon? Fennel seeds? Anise?

Chef John said...

no! it's fresh tarragon or nothing!

Unknown said...

Chef John, thank you for the delicious recipe. It's my 2nd favorite behind your ultimate ranch dressing.

Unknown said...

How long can you keep this in the fridge?

Patrick M. Mitchell said...

Mine kept very well in the refrigerator for 10 days. I made this for a friend's dinner party last weekend (the salad bowl was licked clean) but had about 1/3 of the recipe left over. Truly delicious: the tarragon is wonderful. I will note that over time the chive/garlic flavors became more pronounced - fine with me - but you may want to cut back if you plan on keeping this for a long time and find those developed allium flavors overwhelming.

Divtal said...

Oh, spectacular!

In the 60's there was a Bernstein's restaurant, on O'Farrell Street in San Francisco, that served the best Green Goddess I've ever had. I just finished making this recipe (it's "melding flavors" in the 'fridge, right now). Judging by the preliminary taste-test, I think this equals it.

- I used dried taragon, as I had it on hand. And, I dry my own Italian parsley, because I can't use it quickly enough to use an entire bunch before it liquefies.

- Rather than rice vinegar, I used red-wine vinegar from my little vinegar barrel. It has a much deeper flavor than any store-bought that I've had.

I'm very much looking forward to trying my salad, tonight ... along with shrimp and "angel hair" pasta.


Unknown said...

Do you have to use the anchovies? I don't like it :(

Chelle said...

I don't care for anchovies either but having made this both with and without it doesn't taste at all like anchovies but making the dressing without the anchovy there is a lack of depth you will miss a lot! imho

Suzan said...

Thank you Chef John. I tried a different blogger's recipe and didn't care for it. Then, we went to a Plano, Texas steak restaurant called Knife and had it there for their free appetizer. It was to die for and I had to figure it out. Chef John to the rescue; your recipe is almost exactly the same and I love it. I've already shared it with 4 different friends and we all love it. The Best part is that I can have it on my diet. Thank you for the recipe, video and your knowledge.

SusiAngelArtist said...

Ok, Chef John...I did it. But I couldn't bring myself to put an anchovie in there. So I put a scant tablespoon of anchovy paste. I hope it does the same miraculous things. I have to say that mayonnaise does weird things to my taste buds. I use Sir Kensingtons and avoid anything with canola oil. So, I was not liking the mayonnnaise twang but I loved the herbs in there. Lets hope my family likes it too.

<3