How to Make a Tomato Ranch, Summer Ranch
My refrigerator is broken. Not so broken that it can’t be fixed, but broken so that some kind of specialist is needed. It took over a week to assign this specialist, so I have been working with the mini fridge for eight (8) days. This obviously limited the amount of perishable food I could store, so it’s a strange game of Chopped every night.
But, as with Chopped , these limitations have resulted in unique and interesting pairings. The latter came to me as an obsessive thought after I finished my salad of creamy lettuce, tomatoes, bacon bits and ranch sauce. After dinner I had to play Tetris back in my tiny fridge. The only place for the ranch sauce was next to the tomato paste. That’s where the inspiration came in: “Tomato Ranch,” I whispered to the dog. – I have to do it tomorrow. I made a note on my phone and went to bed.
This morning I mixed them together and confirmed (once again) that I had very good ideas. The tomato paste made the ranch taste deeper, sweeter and even richer in umami. It tasted warm and sticky, like a hot summer night, almost like a sun-dried tomato, but a little brighter.
Tomato ranch is obviously easy to make and makes the perfect dressing for your summer salads. Grab your favorite store-bought or homemade ranch dressing, then add some tomato paste. I use a ratio of at least 1 teaspoon of paste for every 1/2 cup of dressing, but you can use 1 1/2 or 2 teaspoons if you want a more intense tomato flavor (and I do).
This summer ranch is good in every way than a regular ranch. Try it on salad wedges (with blue cheese crumble), dip chicken fillet in it, and dip French fries in it. Fried cucumbers? The slight extra acidity makes it ideal for all kinds of deep-fried dishes. You really can’t mess it up.