By Summer routine established. Garden in the morning, Bernice's Table on Tuesday evenings, cooking with Kezia on Saturdays when she comes, Sunday dinner for whoever appears. This is the shape of my week in June and I find it sufficient and more than sufficient.
I made a cold cucumber soup this week that I had not made in years — something Bernice made once in the late nineties for a church luncheon and that I ate a full bowl of and then went back for more, which was not my custom as a teenager. I had written it in one of my notebooks back then, not knowing I was starting a recipe collection, just knowing I wanted to be able to make that specific cold green soup on a specific hot afternoon in the future. The future arrived. The soup worked. Bernice was right about the dill, which she always is.
Kezia has been reading about food history on her own time, which she mentioned casually this Saturday. She brought a book from the library about the foodways of West African diaspora cooking in the American South and she showed me the passages she'd marked. She had marked a lot of them. I told her this was exactly the kind of research a serious cook should be doing — not just how to cook but why, not just the recipe but the road the recipe traveled to get here. She said, it makes everything taste different when you know where it came from. I said, yes. That's exactly it. She is going to be extraordinary at whatever she decides to do with this. I have no doubt about that.
The cold cucumber soup brought me back to something I’d nearly forgotten — that a good, creamy, herb-forward dressing or base can anchor an entire summer meal the way nothing else can. After pulling that old notebook recipe out and letting the dill do its work, I found myself reaching for this creamy garlic dressing to go alongside the salads we’ve been eating all week, because it carries that same cool, sharp, garden-fresh quality that made Bernice’s soup so memorable to a teenager who didn’t yet know she was building a recipe collection. If you’re feeding people on a hot evening and want something that feels considered without requiring much effort, this is where I’d start.
Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2–3 tablespoons whole milk or buttermilk, to thin
Instructions
- Combine the base. In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and sour cream until smooth and fully incorporated.
- Add acid and aromatics. Whisk in the white wine vinegar, lemon juice, minced garlic, dill, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
- Adjust consistency. Add milk or buttermilk one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition, until the dressing reaches a pourable but still creamy consistency.
- Taste and adjust. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed. The garlic flavor will deepen as it rests.
- Chill before serving. Transfer to a jar or covered bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. This allows the flavors to meld.
- Serve. Drizzle over green salads, sliced cucumbers, cold grain bowls, or alongside raw vegetables. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 115 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 2g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 130mg