My New Favorite Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing

Ever heard of Schnippers? It's a bare-bones New York City eatery made famous by a pretty straightforward but very tasty sloppy-joe. Upping the fame factor, Bobby Flay did a sloppy joe throw down with Schnippers. I'm not sure who won, but either way, Schnippers wins. With a spartan menu and decor, and Prudence Pennywise-approved pricing, anyone who is rambling around Times Square could cut over a few blocks for a satisfying dining experience.

The kids ate fries, chicken, burgers (do modern kids order anything else when they go out to eat, for pete's sake?) and the Quiet Man happily sunk his teeth into the famous sloppy joe, I ordered the salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing. Full of colorful vegetables, fresh, and crisp, the salad was the perfect antidote to the street food I'd been muching on for days. It was the dressing, barely spicy and smoky, sumptuous and creamy, that had me craving it long after our trip to NYC was over.

I started with a basic formula for Ranch dressing and fiddled around with the chipotle and a couple of different tomato products. I got the best results with chipotle chili powder and the oft overlooked condiment ketchup, believe it or not. Since ketchup has a good balance of sweet and tart notes, it's not only great for drowning fries, but it also works very well in dressings and sauces. Get some fresh, crisp greens and some rainbow-bright vegetables to lay down and surrender underneath my new favorite Chipotle Buttermilk dressing. I hope it'll be a new favorite for you, too.

Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing

Estimated Cost: about $2.00 for 1 and 1/2 cups

1/2 cup buttermilk

scant 1/2 cup mayonnaise (low fat is fine OR swap 1/3 cup Greek yogurt plus 3 tablespoons oil)

1/4 cup ketchup

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon mild chili powder

1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (Add more if you like, but start small)

1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

juice of one lime

1 tablespoon honey

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a blender and process until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for one week. It's great as a dressing for a brown rice or quinoa salad, too.
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PS I just noticed that we've got over 400 penny-pinching followers. That means I owe you my labor of love pound cake recipe. I'll post that recipe this Friday for three days only. On Monday, it's going back into the top secret files...