This week, I tried Barbie’s “Creamy Peanut Salad Dressing.” And I’m not sure what to say. I guess if you can’t say anything nice, just go to the recipe?
Creamy Peanut Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
-
-
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter
- 3 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon horseradish
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
-
Barbie says, with the back of a spoon, to cream peanut butter until it is light and fluffy. Maybe peanut butter didn’t already come in ‘creamy’ back in Barbie’s day? I did as directed, but nothing changed appreciably in the texture of the peanut butter.
Once you give up on the creaming process, add the other ingredients and beat until “creamy-smooth”. Toss with a salad.
Makes a quarter cup of salad dressing.
-Adapted from Barbie’s Easy-As-Pie Cookbook
Against logic and reason, I had high hopes for this. Yeah, it sounded weird, but… I like mayonnaise! And I like horseradish! And lemon! And peanut butter is ok too. And I’d gotten used to almond butter popping up in damn near everything when I did a certain restrictive 30 day diet that doesn’t allow for sugar. (Or peanut butter for that matter.) So I thought maybe this would all come together like said restrictive diet’s almond butter based “sunshine sauce” which is actually quite delicious.
It did not.
The distinctive flavors never blended into their own thing. It was just like, “Yep. That’s peanut butter. And mayonnaise. At the same time.”
Notes and Tips:
- Don’t make this. Is that a tip?
- Also don’t really bother with restrictive diets unless you are the kind of person who will actually stop eating all the things that you have discovered upset your system. In spite of learning that bread + dairy at the same time is my enemy, I am currently suffering under the effects of not one but two grilled cheese sandwiches. I learned basically nothing.
Final Thoughts:
One thing I didn’t appreciate when we started this project is how many of Barbie’s recipes are for sweets. Some Happy Endings is the official dessert chapter, but Easy as Pie Candies, Cookies, and Cakes also get their own section. The breakfast chapter is mostly sweets (mostly pancakes really, and something called a “jama party”) as is the one on Milk and Other Marvels. And in the Peanut Butter Cookbook (which is a chapter, not a cookbook) there are only two savory dishes. The salad dressing wasn’t awesome but, as I don’t really care for sweets, Donna, I call dibs on the peanut soup too.
Friendship Club! 