Have you seen the whole food eating trend?  If you look at social media it’s everrrrrywhere.  For months I kind of peeked around, thinking certain dishes looked good.  I dipped my toes in by trying a few meals with no bread or dairy and the next thing I knew I had jumped in head first and you couldn’t find a carb in my whole house!  The benefits of eating real (whole) foods are endless, but I gotta say, I do miss a cupcake from time to time.  So, while we eat clean at home, we do like to indulge in treats from time to time too.  I love this balance and also the new recipes I’ve found through this experience.

Homemade mayonnaise is something I had never tried before.  In fact, I didn’t even really like mayo all that much.  But, like so many food items, the difference between homemade and store-bought is significant.  The best thing is that it’s made in 2 minutes and has only 5 ingredients.

You’ll need one egg, one cup light olive oil, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon salt and the juice of a half a lemon.

A note about the olive oil.  The first time I made this, I only had extra-virgin olive oil on hand.  While, this heart-healthy oil is fantastic, it is just too strong to be used in mayo.  Try looking for ‘light’ olive oil, or if you live by a Trader Joe’s, this brand is very light in taste.

• If you have a wide mouth mason jar, you can dump everything in and blend it.  High five for less dishes!
• Use an immersion blender for about one minute to combine the ingredients in the jar.  You’ll notice it go from liquids to a fluffy solid.
• If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a hand mixer or a kitchen aid.  Make sure you use a room temp egg if that’s the case.  And add all the ingredients besides the oil.  You’ll slowly stream that in as you blend.

What do I do with homemade mayo!?  Well, I hardly even eat it straight on a sandwich.  I’ll use it as a base for ranch dressing or dip.  I’ll also use it as aioli by adding in sundried tomatoes, wasabi or different herbs and spices.

Taking mayonnaise to ranch dressing is much easier than you think.  This recipe is for ‘clean ranch,’ which means it doesn’t have any unhealthy oils or MSG.  You keep that creamy blend of herbs without all the bad stuff.

Start with one cup of mayo, half cup of coconut milk, one teaspoon each of garlic powder and fresh dill, half teaspoon each of onion powder and salt.  I also added a teaspoon of fresh chives after I took the photo.

Carefully whisk together and chill for one hour.  The coconut milk sounds like a very odd thing to put in ranch, but none of the coconut flavor comes through.  It’s all tangy and crisp as ranch dressing should be.  Give it a try!

(recipe credit:  http://instagram.com/amazon_ashley)