Fresh vegetables aren’t always available when it comes to making a creamy, well-seasoned, crunchy vegetable side dish. So, with this buttermilk ranch salad, frozen vegetables come to the rescue. Perfectly cooked frozen corn and peas are mixed with a homemade herby buttermilk dressing. Then, a chopped bulb of fennel is added to create just the right amount of crunch and flavor to make this salad one of the most delicious frozen vegetable side dishes you’ll ever taste.
Lately, I’m finding that I’m not all that motivated to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Hell, let’s just be completely honest, I’m not all that motivated to do just about anything really. In short, I’m not feeling it. I’m not feeling cooking, I’m not feeling baking, and I’m certainly not feeling like there’s any great need for me to plaster a fake smile on my face. Basically, I’m not feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to tackle the world, and in general, I’m really not feeling most people. Right now, these are all just annoying little things that I have to put up with and I am not happy about it.
However, there are those days when I force myself to pull up my big girl panties, smile at an annoying person as if I give a freaking crap what they are talking about, ignore the irritating and seemingly never-ending barking of my neighbor’s dogs, and force myself to wander into the kitchen in hopes that something good will come out of it. And you know what? Sometimes something good does come out of it, like this salad. And, as an added bonus, the crunch of this amazing salad almost drowns out the barking. Now, that’s something worth smiling about.
Ingredients:
- Cold Water
- Ice
- 2 Cups Frozen Peas
- 2 Cups Frozen Corn
- 3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
- 1/3 Cup Buttermilk
- 3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Finely Chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Chives, Finely Chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Dill Weed
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Dry Mustard Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 Fennel Bulb, Finely Chopped
Directions:
- Fill a medium-sized pot 3/4-full with cold water. Then, place the pot on a stove over high heat.
- Fill a large bowl 3/4-full with ice and then add cold water; set aside.
- When the water on the stove comes to a rolling boil, add the frozen peas and corn. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Drain the peas and corn and then place them in the pre-prepared ice bath for 15 minutes to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, except for the fennel, until well combined.
- Skim any unmelted ice off of the peas and corn and discard. Drain the vegetables in a strainer, making sure to shake off as much water as possible.
- Add the drained vegetables and chopped fennel to the buttermilk ranch dressing; stir well to combine.
Suggestions:
- I used frozen roasted corn for this recipe because it was what I had on hand, however, any type of frozen corn will work in this recipe.
- For this recipe, the ice bath will stop the vegetables from overcooking, cool them down quickly, and help them retain their vibrant color.
- Make sure to discard any unmelted ice from the peas and corn before you drain them. The ice will be floating at the top of the bowl, so this should be very easy to do.
- For this recipe, I did not use the fennel fronds because my fennel bulb had been refrigerated for several weeks and they were rather droopy. If your fennel fronds are in nice shape, you can finely chop them and add them to the salad.
- Save and freeze your fennel stalks. These can be used to make stock.
Improvements:
- If you don’t like fennel, you can leave it out of this recipe or replace it with finely chopped celery.
- Add a few handfuls of halved cherry tomatoes to this salad.
- Make sure to check out our other great corn salad recipes. There is this Honey & Lime Corn Salad with Queso Fresco, this Shrimp & Corn Salad with Chesapeake Seasoning, this Smoky Ground Cumin & Paprika Corn Salad, and this Roasted Corn Salad with Chile Vinaigrette.
Ingredients:
- Cold Water
- Ice
- 2 Cups Frozen Peas
- 2 Cups Frozen Corn
- 3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
- 1/3 Cup Buttermilk
- 3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Finely Chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Chives, Finely Chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Dill Weed
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Dry Mustard Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 Fennel Bulb, Finely Chopped
Directions:
- Fill a medium-sized pot 3/4-full with cold water. Then, place the pot on a stove over high heat.
- Fill a large bowl 3/4-full with ice and then add cold water; set aside.
- When the water on the stove comes to a rolling boil, add the frozen peas and corn. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Drain the peas and corn and then place them in the pre-prepared ice bath for 15 minutes to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, except for the fennel, until well combined.
- Skim any unmelted ice off of the peas and corn and discard. Drain the vegetables in a strainer, making sure to shake off as much water as possible.
- Add the drained vegetables and chopped fennel to the buttermilk ranch dressing; stir well to combine.
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