Have you seen those ranch commercials? Where everything is a vegetable and kids are happily eating it because they have the option of dunking said vegetable in ranch dressing?
I see those commercials. And, I crave ranch dressing. I love ranch and could/have eaten it on everything. Forgive me Father for I have sinned….with Ranch Dressing.
Despite my obsession with ranch dressing, the idea of enticing kids to eat vegetables slathered in ranch (or cheese flavored sauce) is a little off.
I admit – I don’t have kids. But, I hated uncooked vegetables growing up. To this day, I have some reservations. The thought of eating raw broccoli without any sort of dressing/liquid makes my mouth dry.
I too would rely on ranch dressing to save my non-liked raw vegetables. It made every bite of my raw broccoli taste divine. After a couple of months, I realized that every salad or vegetable that I dunked (literally) in ranch dressing was not me craving vegetables, but rather a not-so-secret way of getting my daily dose of ranch dressing. I don’t know if I left liking the vegetable more. I dare say I did not.
I fell victim to this.
What has changed today? Nothing with regards to broccoli. Raw – the florets are a little hard for me to chew through.
My non-ranch resolution?
HUMMUS!!
Nowadays, I use hummus on almost everything. A replacement for mayo, the protein in a wrap, dip for my veggies – even broccoli.
What’s your healthy replacement? Do you like eating raw veggies? Raw broccoli? If not, how do you deal?
Hummus
Adapted from here
Ingredients
- 1 (16 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained but reserve 1/4 liquid
- 2 lemons
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Directions
- Throw everything into the food processor and puree until smooth.
- Transfer to a bowl and top with the paprika and one more tablespoon of olive oil. If you have sumac spice on hand, use that in place of paprika.
