In my column for the Record-Eagle last week I put my recipe for yogurt dill dip. I got some really nice feedback from a reader who had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease and had been looking for a Ranch-type dressing and dip that she could eat without adverse reactions. The dip fit the bill! It was really nice to be able to help out someone I’ve never met. Not that I think I can save the world with my cooking, but it is nice to make a difference no matter how small!
It got me to thinking about how when you know you can’t eat something (my reader couldn’t eat gluten, artificial flavors and other things that made her favorite dressing off-limits) you want it even more. Even though I’m not a breakfast person, when I had to “fast” before my blood sugar tests when pregnant I was famished!
Thinking about being hungry led me to ponder about the paradox of eating certain foods and still being hungry afterward.
For example -when eating at McDonald’s or any restaurant of it’s ilk- how you can consume nearly all your daily allotted calories and still be raging hungry after the meal. This made me remember a friend who fed her two kids at McDonald’s 3 nights out of the week and used packaged dinners (Banquet frozen slow-cooker meals and dinners, Hamburger Helper, t.v. dinners, etc…) for the rest of the meals she served. They were a typical family, no busier than the rest of us, but that was just how they ate. She was raised that way and she was raising her kids to eat that way. In the same vein, I had a discussion with another Mom a little while back to told me that her kids didn’t know fish came in any form other than breaded, deep-fried and frozen.
As a relatively young person (no snickering, please) I wonder when the real cultural shift from all homemade foods to mostly pre-packaged foods happened. I know the shift is due to a confluence of events; technology growth, marketing, busy schedules, and more. My own personal theory is that the packaged food revolution is a symptom of the breakdown of the family unit in America. This leaves me wading in deep social waters and my allotted philosophical time for today is almost up. I’ll revisit this later… maybe.
For now I’ll just stick with what I know for a fact. It is so easy to produce something so delicious and healthy in your own kitchen with readily available ingredients that most often surpasses the quality of purchased prepared foods. The dill dip is just one example of many. …And it is so easy to make that my four year old helps his ten year old brother make it. They can produce it start to finish in 15 minutes and that includes clean-up.
You can view the whole column here: http://www.record-eagle.com/food/local_story_133095616.html
Or you can simply make the recipe as posted below:
Yogurt Dill Dip
11/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 c. mayonnaise
21/2 t. dried dill weed
21/2 t. dried parsley flakes
21/2 t. dried onion flakes
1 t. kosher or sea salt
1/2 t. onion powder
1/4 t. celery seed
Add all ingredients to a medium sized mixing bowl and stir until evenly combined. Refrigerate for at least two hours prior to serving to allow flavors to meld and the onion flakes to soften. Serve with chips or a veggie tray or even as a delicious Ranch-type salad dressing.
Comments + Reviews