Joey's Chunky Herbed Feta Ranch Dressing

Whenever the weather is really hot, I like to do lots of main course salads. Sometimes I'll do a grilled chicken Caesar salad, or maybe a big chef's salad, or maybe just some iceberg wedges and sliced Jersey tomatoes. And whenever I go on a salad kick, I like to try to come up with different kinds of salad dressings. Most times it's some sort of quick vinaigrette, but this time it's a creamy ranch dressing. It's rich and yummy and SO flavorful! I made it for Jerry, who was an immediate fan, and I also won raves when I brought some to Danny and Emma. Just a few fresh ingredients, whisk them together, and boom, you're good to go. I think this is my new go-to ranch dressing! Maybe it'll be yours too. Try it!

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tbs chopped fresh basil
1 tsp chopped fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, and rosemary)
1/4 cup half and half
4 oz crumbled feta cheese

Simply place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Easy, right?
This dressing sets up a bit when you chill it in the fridge. If it gets too thick after you chill it, just add a few drops of half and half until you reach the right consistency. Then again you could leave it thick and serve it as a FABULOUS veggie dip. Seriously, it's SO good with carrots and celery sticks. Speaking of celery sticks, you could even crumble bleu cheese into it instead of feta and serve it with buffalo wings. If you're not a fan a feta or bleu cheese, just omit them and enjoy a delicious creamy herbed ranch! Yum.

Tips:
The key to this recipe is using fresh herbs. I suppose you can use dried herbs, but in this case, it's that green freshness that I was looking for. I like to grow lots of herbs on my window sills and then just snip off a few sprigs for whatever I'm making. Btw, listed above is 1 tsp chopped fresh herbs.. I just took a few leaves of each herb and chopped them up to make a TOTAL of 1 tsp. Hope that was clear enough. If you're not a fan of any of the herbs I used, try a few others! Perhaps a different kind of basil, flat leaf parsley, or maybe some chives. Whatever you like!