Welcome faithful blog followers and newbies alike! Here, you find the Glass Onion’s redesigned website and home of our blog — Soulful Food. With this redesign and relaunch I promise to recommit myself to the blog — delivering delicious recipes from our Charleston restaurant and pertinent thoughts on food.

I admit that over the past two months I have been a bit remiss in my blogging, but thankfully I can attest that this only due to an abundance of good fortune at the GO. We can now celebrate the publishing of our cookbook (Glass Onion Classics), the release of our own line of sausage (Belle’s Country Links), and the shooting of a Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at the restaurant.

While we are thankful to be occupied with so much good stuff, I can attest that during such glorious chaos finding time becomes even more of a challenge. Luckily, I had already committed myself to donating just that commodity (precious time) to the Charleston Area Children’s Garden Project. This non-profit devotes itself to sharing the joy of growing food with low-income neighborhoods by establishing community gardens and working with schools.

My time involved going to an elementary school just down the road from the Glass Onion and showing third graders what they might do with vegetables growing in their school garden. The variety of vegetables (ranging from pumpkins to string beans to lettuce)  provided an array of possibilities, but the time limit of an hour and the attention span of third graders prompted me to go with the most straightforward option — salad dressing.

Of course, I had my doubts about how this age group might feel about salad, but I figured that the GO’s Buttermilk Dressing might be similar enough to everyone’s favorite “ranch” dressing to win over some lettuce lovers. Plus, I looked forward to showing them the ease and fun of making your own.

The day arrived, and I admit that I felt a little intimidated standing in front of a room filled with very direct young students. They certainly would not hold back their thoughts on salad or my version of a salad dressing they all knew very well. But you know what — they proved themselves to be a very appreciative audience. From whisking the dressing to eating raw veggies they embraced the experience. In fact, nearly everyone came back for seconds!

I left their classroom so glad that I “found” the time. It is easy in this hectic day and age to scramble every minute of every day but lose sight of what really matters. No matter how busy your schedule becomes I encourage you to set aside a half day or even just a few hours to give back.

If you live in the Charleston area the the Children’s Garden Project would love your helping hands….

Darlena Goodwin, Executive Director
(843) 478-3748
dgoodwi@clemson.edu

Charleston Area Children’s Garden Project
P.O. Box 13302
James Island, SC 29422

Holly Seigler, Volunteer Coordinator
cgp.volunteering@gmail.com

Buttermilk Dressing

I believe that most Americans — except the mayonnaise haters — have a special (maybe secret) place in their hearts for “ranch” dressing. The creaminess, the tanginess — it really seduces the palate. And that’s why we created our own version. We serve it on a  wedge of Kurious Farms Bibb lettuce, simply seasoned with salt and pepper. The wedge and the dressing need nothing more than each other! Try it on your favorite salad or as a dip for crudite.

1 ¼ cups mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced shallot (about 1/4 medium shallot)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon minced garlic (about 1/ 2 medium garlic clove)
½ teaspoon hot sauce
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; whisk until well blended.
YIELD: About 2 1/2 cups

P.S. This should last for at least a week in your fridge, but the garlic/shallot might start to lose their zest after this point.