Creamy Buttermilk Caesar Salad Dressing

In terms of the most underrated and under-appreciated ingredients in the kitchen, buttermilk is pretty hard to beat. But its benefits reach far beyond baking. While buttermilk does play a pivotal role in everything from muffins to waffles to cornbread, I don't think that recipes for those foods really show off the buttermilk's tangy flavor or unbelievable creaminess.  That's why my favorite way to use buttermilk is in its raw form.

To be honest, I love the flavor of plain buttermilk. Coming from a non-milk drinker, that's saying a lot. It tastes like liquid sour cream and it's so rich that just a little bit goes a long way. But I understand that drinking buttermilk straight is kind of gross and disconcerting for most.

Recently, I've started using buttermilk is salad dressing. One of my favorite summertime salads is Deb from Smitten Kitchen's corn bread salad. It has a buttermilk lime dressing that's loaded with herbs and sweet and tangy flavor. It's a fun spin on my all-time favorite bread salad. Nevertheless, the dressing is a bit thin and the fresh lime and herbs that it contains don't make it year-round fare.

Enter Cook's Illustrated. I've described my love for Cook's Illustrated and my nearly limitless faith in their recipes. A few months ago, we acquired their Healthy Family Cookbook, which has been an incredible addition to our growing cookbook collection. It's sort of like the classic Best Recipe cookbook for lightweights. And by lightweight I mean that the cookbook is loaded with pictures but withholds the exhaustive recipe testing notes (which are actually my favorite part, but then again I also think Lagrange multipliers are fun) . This is the kind of cookbook that showcases easy, everyday recipes that just happen to be healthy.

I was intrigued by their section on salads. Despite the reputation that salad has for being a healthy food lover's dream, the truth is that some salads, with their oil- or fat-heavy dressings and myriad of toppings, aren't as wholesome as they're cracked up to be. It's actually pretty shocking to discover the nutritional information behind just a few tablespoons of salad dressing. However, the folks at America's Test Kitchen devised an ingenious way to retain the familiar flavor of Caesar salad dressing and the thick and creamy texture without the extra calories and fat. The secret ingredient? Low-fat buttermilk.

Here, buttermilk lends its tangy flavor and thickness to the salad dressing. Other pantry staples complete the dressing, making it a perfect dressing to make year-round. A bit of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard add body; the dressing's salty, savory notes come from a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and some minced anchovies. Only two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil (a fraction of the amount called for in our previous go-to recipe from Ina Garten) are needed to round out the dressing. What results is something that is surprisingly and unexpectedly delicious, endlessly creamy with a pleasing sourness from lemon juice and buttermilk. It's actually hard to believe that it's a healthy recipe.

No longer will you worry about what to do with the extra half-carton of buttermilk that you have languishing in the refrigerator unused. Make this salad dressing! In fact, I think we may have to start buying buttermilk regularly. I've already started to think about different variations for this recipe: green goddess and ranch dressings come to mind, but even simple additions like herbs or a different vinegar could really transform the dressing.

I realize that I just spent seven paragraphs talking about salad dressing of all things, but I simply cannot withhold my love for this new recipe. I suppose there are worse things I could be obsessed with. Cheesecake, for example. Oh, wait....

Creamy Buttermilk Caesar Salad Dressing 
Adapted from The America's Test Kitchen's Healthy Family Cookbook

This dressing is the perfect complement to more substantial salad greens like romaine or red-leaf lettuce and baby spinach. To make a more substantial salad, add Ina Garten's Caesar additions: oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, crispy pancetta, and perhaps some garlic croutons.

Yield: about 3/4 cup dressing

1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons light mayonnaisse
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup (about 1 ounce) grated parmesan cheese, optional

In a measuring cup or jar, add all ingredients except olive oil and cheese. Whisk vigorously to incorporate (if using a measuring cup) or shake the jar to incorporate the ingredients. If using a whisk, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to emuslify the dressing. If using a jar, add the olive oil and shake well to emulsify. Add the parmesan, if using, and serve atop salad greens.

The dressing will keep, stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, for up to a week.

Simplest Applesauce

If I could use one word to describe my cooking style, it would be simple. My favorite recipes and foods are usually the simplest, with few embellishments and incredibly easy preparations. Case in point: roasted root vegetables and plain cheesecake (it seems I can't get through a post without mentioning cheesecake). I'd so much rather eat a roasted sweet potato with little more than salt and pepper than a concoction that adds a myriad of different flavorings and ingredients so you can hardly taste the sweet potato-ness in the finished product. 

Take apples. I love apples. All kinds. I don't think I've ever met an apple that I didn't like. From Pink Lady to Golden Delicious to Honeycrisp (swoon) to the ubiquitous Granny Smith, I love them all. There is something so satisfying to biting into a crisp apple, juicy and sweet, with a hint of tartness coming through toward the end.

Plain apples, eaten out of hand, are one of my favorite foods. In my mind, they are perfect as is. Sometimes, though, when the mood strikes, I love to make a batch of applesauce. Usually I get the craving for applesauce around the holidays, or when the temperatures drop and a spoonful of warm applesauce seems the perfect antidote to the chilly weather. Keeping true to my simple is best philosophy, I make my applesauce with nothing but apples and water. It's almost embarrassingly easy, but the end product is proof that this strategy works. Fresh apples don't need anything else to taste wonderful. They already have the whole sweet/tart balance going for them, and when cooked down, I think the flavor concentrates into something greater than the sum of its parts.

Make this in the dead of winter, when you've had your share of citrus, to serve alongside any number of dishes. It would be great as a sweet side to poultry or pork, atop pancakes (sweet or savory) or waffles, or as an accompaniment to spice breads or cakes. As for me? I enjoy it alone, with only a spoon and perhaps a sprinkling of cinnamon for some warm spiciness. Yup, typical.

My Favorite Applesauce

Like nearly all foods, I enjoy my applesauce with some real texture so I leave it pretty chunky. If you like your applesauce smoother, or are using it in another application where smoothness is desired, you can use a foodmill to get it more evenly pureed. One of my favorite things about this "recipe" is that it's incredibly adaptable depending on how much applesauce you want to make. I usually make this around the holidays (it's a mainstay on our Thanksgiving table) so I make a large batch. You can adjust the proportions accordingly depending on how much you want to make. I find that sweet/tart apples work best for applesauce because they result in an end product that's sweet without being cloying. Golden Delicious (my favorite apple to eat out of hand), Pink Lady, Jonagold, Gala, and Honeycrisp are all excellent varieties perfectly suited for applesauce. Another great thing about applesauce? It's perfect for using apples that have seen better days or are just languishing, uneaten, in your crisper. This technique also works great with pears, although "pearsauce" just doesn't have that same ring to it, does it?

Yield: 10-12 servings

8 large to medium sweet/tart apples (see note)
Water

Peel and core the apples. Slice them into medium chunks (about 1 1/2-inch pieces) and place in a large pot. Pour in enough water to come halfway up the apples. Heat the apples and water over medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until the apples are very tender. With a potato masher (you could also use a wooden spoon and a bit more elbow grease), mash the apples until they form a chunky sauce. For a smoother applesauce, transfer the whole mixture to a food mill and process the apples until they reach the desired consistency. Transfer back to the pot.

At this point, the applesauce will be a little loose. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the applesauce for 20 to 30 minutes, until some of the water has evaporated and the applesauce is thick. Store the applesauce in the pot or in an airtight container for up to a week. Serve warm or cold.

P.S. I know I said that this year I wanted to post once a week. I also know it's been two weeks since my last post. Unfortunately, this past week was filled with three tests, a project, and lots of homework assignments. Since one of my other New Year's resolutions was to maintain my grades, I see this as a trade-off. I'm hoping to resume my minimum of one post a week from here on out, though. Thanks for reading, as always.

Creamed Spinach

Here we are, three weeks into the New Year. Isn't it crazy how time flies? Snowpocalypse 2011 really shook things up here for a while, but this week definitely marked a return to normalcy, with busy mornings and nights, homework and quizzes, and slightly higher temperatures.

All of this has made it more difficult to post here, but today I bring you one of my favorite vegetable side dishes. Traditional creamed spinach is a dish that, while undoubtedly delicious, I can't justify eating regularly because of its inherent richness. Sure, spinach contains lots of healthy vitamins and minerals, but when covered in a cream sauce often enhanced with some kind of meat, any nutritional benefits that it offers are virtually erased.

Enter a healthier version of creamed spinach. Like all white sauces, this one begins with roux of fat and flour. However, instead of adding heavy cream or half and half to the roux, this sauce uses a combination of skim milk and chicken broth, which is then reduced down to a creamy consistency. The milk provides the familiar, slightly sweet dairy flavor while the broth adds a savory element to the otherwise meatless dish.

Sauteed shallots provide a sweet onion flavor and nutmeg, customary in many dishes with a white sauce or greens (or both), gives the sauce a wonderful fragrant spice and a certain warmth. (If I was Rachael Ray, I'd tell you that the nutmeg will make people go, "Hmmm... what is that?" Since I am not, I will tell you that the nutmeg really boosts this dish up. You wouldn't immediately recognize it, but you'd notice if it was absent.)

Perhaps my favorite thing about this dish is the ease versus payoff factor. I'm a huge fan of things that go together quickly or with minimal effort but that really impress (ahem, cheesecake). The use of frozen spinach makes this dish one you can make any time, since all of the ingredients are pantry staples. The sauce comes together practically by itself, which allows you to attend to more important kitchen matters (ahem, cheesecake). What I'm trying to say is that you should make this, now, because nothing is stopping you. You will be greatly rewarded for your (not so) hard work with a dish that you can feel good about eating and serving.

Healthier Creamed Spinach
Adapted from Ellie Krieger

When we first discovered this recipe in 2009, we made it often and served it several ways. The creamed spinach is perfectly fine on its own, but we've also added sliced mushrooms to the sauce to bulk it up. If you opt to do this, slice a few cremini mushrooms and saute them along with the shallots. The creamed spinach (with or without mushrooms) also makes a great pasta sauce. We used it with butternut squash ravioli, which was a wonderful foil to the earthier flavor of the mushrooms and spinach. In addition to ravioli or plain pasta (I'd go with a short-cut pasta like penne or rigatoni to trap more of the sauce), the spinach would also go wonderfully with gnocchi. (To make the creamed spinach a bit "saucier," either add less spinach or more milk/broth. If you add more milk/broth, just cook the sauce longer to reduce it down to the correct consistency.) I've made this with both skim and low-fat milk, and both work equally well. If you can, use freshly grated nutmeg, which is much more fragrant and flavorful than pre-grated nutmeg.

Yield: 4-6 servings

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 small shallots, minced
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Once the spinach is thawed (I usually do this in the microwave), squeeze all of the water from the spinach. A clean kitchen towel or multiple layers of paper towels are ideal for this job.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. (If you opt to add mushrooms, now would be the time to add them.) Add the flour to the pan and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Cooking the flour now gets rid of that pasty, raw flour taste.

Add the milk and chicken broth and cook, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring ocassionally, until the sauce is reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes. When the sauce is ready, it will coat the back of the spoon.



Add the spinach to the sauce and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the nutmeg, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve hot, either alone or alongside pasta or gnocchi.

The creamed spinach can be stored in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week, if it lasts that long.

Roasted Root Vegetables

We have a very large tupperware at our house. It holds about 26 cups of stuff (in the past it has stored chex mix, pasta salad, and fruit salad). It currently sits in our refrigerator, taking up way too much space, with a big heap of roasted root vegetables in it.

To say that I like roasted root vegetables would be an understatement. To say that I like to make a lot of roasted root vegetables would also be an understatement. More than stuffing, carrot ring, and cranberry sauce, I look forward to these roasted vegetables on the Thanksgiving table. Forget about mashed potatoes; at our house, roasted root vegetables are king.

(I wonder how many times the phrase "roasted root vegetables" has been used in the span of seven sentences. My apologies for the lack of phrase variation.)

Mass quantities of roasted root vegetables = heaven.

Anyway, one of my favorite things about this recipe is that it's really more of a method than precise instructions. Once you learn the technique, you can craft dozens of different variations with all kinds of vegetables. This year, our mix included carrots, parsnips (my favorite of the bunch), sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, butternut squash, pearl onions, and cremini mushrooms. However, Brussels sprouts, rutabagas, beets, and even celery, which takes on a wonderful savory flavor when roasted, would also be delicious.

I chop furiously. It's kinda fun.

The real wild card in the dish is the roasted garlic and herb mixture that gets mixed in at the very end. Smashed roasted garlic gets tossed with a heap of fresh parsley and rosemary (other woody herbs like sage and thyme also taste great) and added to the melange right before serving. The sweetness of the roasted garlic, along with the fresh herb flavor, really elevates the more humble vegetables and takes them from delicious to absolutely fabulous. Without a doubt this is my favorite thing to eat during the holidays (and a good thing because I made enough to last until Christmas).
Roasted Root Vegetables

You can prepare this dish early in the day if you like. Just cover the roasted vegetables. When you are ready to serve them, warm them in an oven and top them with the garlic-herb mixture. If you prefer, you can peel the root vegetables, but I love the texture (and nutrition) that the peels provide. As I said before, you can substitute or add in other root vegetables if you like. Just be sure to cut them into similarly-sized pieces. If you choose to add beets, rutabagas, or celery, cook them along with the root vegetables. If you choose to add Brussels sprouts, halve or quarter them and cook alongside the mushrooms and onions. We use a large disposable aluminum roasting pan (the kind you'd use to roast a turkey) for the root vegetables. It's very important both to season the vegetables liberally and to toss them every 15 or so minutes so that they cook evenly (this is a lot of vegetables we're talking about here). We cook the vegetables using our oven's "convection roast" setting. If your oven doesn't have this setting, roast at the same temperature, keeping in mind that it may take longer for the vegetables to cook through. To ensure even cooking, just toss every 15 minutes until they are tender.

Yield: an insanely large amount; at least 20 servings

2 pounds carrots
2 pounds parsnips
2 large sweet potatoes
2 pounds fingerling potatoes
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and seeded
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms
2 (10-ounce) bags of pearl onions
10-12 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Large handful of fresh parsley
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Adjust two oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, and butternut squash into 3/4-inch to 1-inch pieces. It's important that the root vegetables be close to the same size so that they cook at the same rate. Place in a large roasting pan and set aside.

Halve or quarter the mushrooms and place on a foil-lined half-sheet pan. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. When it has reached a bowl, drop in one of the bags of pearl onions. Cook for 1 minute. Drain in a colander and run cold water over the onions to cool them down. Using a paring knife, peel the outer layer off the pearl onions and add to the half-sheet pan with the mushrooms. Repeat with the second bag of pearl onions. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves to the half-sheet pan, too.

Lightly drizzle the root vegetables with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. (You can also spray them with nonstick cooking spray and achieve the same result.) Toss the vegetables with your hands to ensure they are sufficiently and evenly seasoned. Repeat with the mushrooms and onions.

Place the roasting pan of root vegetables on the lower middle rack of the oven and roast for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes have passed, carefully and quickly toss the vegetables with a large spoon. Roast for another 15 minutes and toss again.

After the root vegetables have been roasting for 30 minutes (they will have been tossed twice), place the mushrooms and onions in the oven on the upper middle rack. Roast for 15 minutes and again toss both the root vegetables and mushroom-onion mix.

Roast for a final 15 minutes, or until the root vegetables are browned and fork tender. The mushrooms will be browned (and shrunken) and the onions will also have taken on some color. Remove all the vegetables from the oven and let cool while you prepare the garlic-herb mixture.

Finely chop both the parsley and rosemary and place into a small dish. Peel and mash the roasted garlic and add to the herb mixture. Mix the herbs and garlic together.

Transfer the vegetables to a serving platter, add the garlic-herb mixture, and toss to incorporate everything together. Serve hot.

Healthy Zucchini Bread

I’ve long nagged my mom about planting different vegetables and fruits in our backyard to harvest. Imagine the wealth of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and squash that we could get! And a fig tree? Don’t even get me started.

When my mom told me that we could harvest some vegetables from her friend’s own garden, I was elated. Although there were no fig trees to be found, we ended up with a wonderful variety of homegrown summer produce. A few peppers, some cucumbers, and a couple of cute cherry tomatoes, not to mention an assortment of delicious herbs. Oh, and a zucchini.

It was a pretty sizable bounty. And when I say sizable, I mean it. Our lone zucchini tipped the scales at over three and a half pounds. Yes, you read that correctly: three and a half pounds. About 60 ounces of pure vegetation. The problem with a three and a half-pound zucchini? Only about two and a half of those pounds are usable. Unlike average sized zucchini, this humongous squash had the most developed seed structure I’ve ever seen in a summer squash. It was more like a winter squash, and anyone who has ever prepped a butternut or acorn squash (or even scooped out a pumpkin for Halloween) knows that there’s a whole mess of seed webbing to work through and that the outer flesh is the only usable part.
But when life gives you a three and a half-pound zucchini, what does one do? Ah, one makes zucchini bread. My mom pulled out an “heirloom” recipe for zucchini bread. I call it heirloom because of its odd combination of ingredients. (“Baking powder and baking soda? Sure, why not, even though there’s nothing for the baking soda to react with, it just sounds right. While we’re at it, let’s list all the ingredients and an oven temperature and just leave it at that. No further directions are required. After all, we’re only dealing with kitchen alchemy and the like.”) So I had a few reservations about how this would turn out, especially when my mom began substituting and adjusting ingredients left and right. But you know what? It came out really well. Aside from the loaves’ squatness (I’ve elected to call them tea cakes, instead), our own little kitchen experiment has a happy—and delicious—ending. Although it’s hard for me to detect any zucchini flavor (it’s a rather mild-tasting vegetable to begin with), a dose of cinnamon lends it a taste that reminds me of banana bread (it provides a wonderful scent, too). Chopped pecans add a great contrast of texture. Speaking of texture, I think the texture of the bread improves with age. The crumb gets denser and more toothsome.

This bread is also just about the healthiest quick bread recipe you may ever find. My mom swapped in applesauce for all the oil and cut back on the sugar by a third. (Apparently we have similar opinions about using vegetable oil and shortening.) Final verdict: an excellent use for our mammoth zucchini and perfect for breakfast in the morning or for a more healthful midnight snack.

Healthy Zucchini Bread
Adapted from an old family recipe

Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Admittedly, we totally omitted the vanilla by accident, but the bread was just as tasty anyway. Include it if you like, but know that you can omit it also. I'd reason that the vanilla accents the other ingredients (much like salt - don't leave that out!) and also adds a floral note to the bread. This bread really improves with age and tastes delicious cold, as the crumb becomes especially tooth-sinking and dense. The loaves can be stored, wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator, for up to one week.

Yield: 2 (shortish) loaves

3 large eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.

Combine eggs, applesauce, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until well-combined. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned. Set aside.

Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just-combined. Don't overmix; there should be no large streaks of white flour remaining, but lumps are fine. Stir in the pecans.

Divide the batter evenly among the loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the loaves comes out clean. Cool in the pans on a wire rack until the loaves reach room temperature.

On Cravings and Homemade Potato Chips

People who know me really well know that I am an extremely healthy eater. I generally eat fruits and vegetables during the week, and indulge more on the weekends. (However, I actually think this is quite common; people work during the week and can't cook as much, saving more complicated meals and preparations for the weekend.)

Nevertheless, just because I maintain a healthy diet doesn't mean I've totally forgotten all of my cravings (my favorite food is cheesecake, after all). I have childhood memories of eating peanut butter straight from the jar, on nothing but a spoon. Other times I'd be a bit more civilized and opt to make a peanut butter and banana sandwich, a snack that required a specific construction in order to get the taste just right (but peanut butter and bananas are a whole other story...).

My mom, in particular, absolutely loves homemade potato chips and blue cheese dip, so much so that she can make a meal out of them. But plunging potatoes into a vat of oil is not really our thing (is it anyone's?) and blue cheese dip can be pretty heavy. This healthier version of the classic combination was born out of my preferred technique for roasting potatoes in the oven (and a 5-pound bag of red potatoes from Costco). I sliced them very thin, about a quarter of an inch, so that they would cook fast and crisp up, and I seasoned them liberally with salt and pepper. And then into the oven they went. About 20 minutes later, they came out of the oven crisp and golden, reminiscent of slightly thicker potato chips. My mom took this idea and ran with it. These chips have all the flavor of deeply roasted potato chips, but they're baked instead of fried.

As for the other half of the duo, the blue cheese dip, nonfat Greek yogurt and some low-fat buttermilk combine to form a healthier base for the pungent blue cheese. The acidity of both complements the blue cheese, as well. There's really no getting around the cheese in the dip, but if you use a high-quality blue cheese, a little goes a long way.

There's a lot to be said for a snack (or, if you're my mom, a dinner's worth) that satisfies a craving and your conscience. I'm not the biggest blue cheese fan, but even I can appreciate these, and on a Tuesday night no less.

Homemade Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Dip

Okay, I'm going to say right off the bat that this "recipe" is not very precise. As much as I love to bake, when I measure willingly and often, when I cook, I hardly ever measure. But I made sure to pay extra attention to the method that my mom used to make the chips and to the ingredients that went into the blue cheese dip. The truth is, making the potato chips is more of a technique and, depending on your oven, times can vary somewhat. Don't be afraid to taste the chips. You can generally tell when they're done when they smell like potatoes. As for the dip, season it to taste. Try a little to make sure that it has enough kick from the hot sauce and that the blue cheese packs the perfect amount of punch.

Yield: 4 servings

For the potato chips:

About 10 small to medium red potatoes, scrubbed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garlic powder or other seasoning (optional; imagine rosemary or thyme, or even a barbecue seasoning blend if you're a fan of that famous flavor)

Vegetable oil spray

For the blue cheese dip:

About 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt, preferably nonfat (you can also use sour cream, but you will need less buttermilk if you do; to make homemade Greek yogurt, drain plain yogurt in a sieve lined with cheesecloth or paper towels for a few hours, until thick and creamy)

2-3 tablespoons of low-fat buttermilk

About 1/4 cup of crumbled, high-quality blue cheese (I used gorgonzola)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Hot sauce, to taste

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. (Our oven has a convection roast setting, and that's what we use. If your oven does not have this setting, use the same oven temperature, but the chips will likely take longer to cook.) Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray. (I also think using a Silpat or silicone mat would work and you wouldn't even need the spray.)

Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can, no more than 1/8 of an inch. Arrange about half on the baking sheet in an even layer and season liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder or other seasoning (if desired). Repeat with the remaing potatoes. There will be a lot of potato slices and they won't all fit in an even layer, but just make sure they are as spread out as evenly as possible with no large clumps of potatoes.

Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes; remove the potatoes from the oven and toss them. As they begin to cook, it will seem as if they are steaming. Because red potatoes are high in moisture content, the water must cook off before they begin to brown. Continue to bake, tossing the potatoes about every five or so minutes. Don't worry if the potatoes stick together, but try your best to break up any huge clumps. In our oven it takes about 25 minutes for them to cook completely. When they are done, they are nicely browned and crisped. Try a few to make sure they are done to your liking. Once they are cooked, turn off the oven and let the potatoes sit in the oven to evaporate off a little more moisture.

Meanwhile, make the blue cheese dip. Combine the Greek yogurt, buttermilk, blue cheese, salt, pepper and hot sauce in a bowl and stir to combine. The consistency should be thick but dippable. Add more buttermilk if you like a thinner dip. Cover and refrigerate for later or serve right away with the (still warm, yum) potato chips.