Creamy ranch dressing with a bit of heat and plenty of green chile flavor has become a family favorite over the past couple of years.

Ranch dressing is delicious on salads and as a dip for fresh vegetables. We love dipping pizza in ranch and these spicy chicken bites are awesome with a side of green chile ranch too.

Dion’s Green Chile Ranch

If you grew up in the 505 or have ever lived in NM, you likely understand the near-obsession we all have with Dion’s Pizza. It truly is the best pizza, sandwiches, and salads you can buy.

When we were driving through Albuquerque a few years ago, we stopped (as we always do) for sandwiches, pizza and a bottle of Dion’s fantastic ranch dressing. When the cashier asked if we wanted regular ranch or green chile ranch, I can pretty much guarantee that my jaw dropped.

I immediately told her I’d like a bottle of each. About 3 minutes later, I was dipping a slice of pizza into the green chile ranch and wondering how I’d survived so long without it. (Hyperbole? You bet.)

Anyways, living thousands of miles from the nearest Dion’s restaurant meant that as soon as we were home again, I needed to figure out exactly how to recreate that dressing. I’ll admit it wasn’t quite as simple as I thought it might be, and it did require a special ingredient before I nailed the dressing to my own satisfaction.

Speaking of weird ingredients, did you know you can buy green chile powder?? I had no clue and let me tell you, it’s pretty amazing. It’s a more intense green chile taste with all the green chile flavor and heat we love so much.

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Cheesy enchiladas filled with chicken and black beans in a green chile sauce is a hearty dinner that always gets two thumbs up from my crowd.

There are a great many enchilada recipes in my cookbooks and binders, easily dozens. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve made over the years.

These enchiladas were my family’s favorite when I first published this recipe – it was one of the first recipes I published here, over 13 years ago. And this is still a recipe that I make often. And if that isn’t reason enough for you to try it, they’re easy enough to assemble that my kids have been making them on their own for many years.

I usually assemble them early in the day and then cover the pan with foil and tuck it in the fridge. Bake for about an hour before you plan to serve dinner, removing the foil for the last 20 minutes.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:

• chicken
• black beans
• green chile enchilada sauce 
• garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin
• salt and pepper
• flour tortillas
• shr

Wild Blueberry Pie with Shortbread Crust

This wild blueberry pie is topped with a brown sugar streusel (I know, streusels are life!) and the shortbread crust is so rich and buttery!

I don’t know that there’s a huge benefit to me posting pie recipes every few months. No one seems to love pie exactly like me online. IRL? Yes, because my people are in fact “my people” and they get the pie love. Hence why we are friends. One in particular, Janelle, she just gets me. We would be the best travel-to-eat companions. Obviously when I saw her at a party holding a pie it was the first one I had to try. 

And that was the best idea. 

This is that pie. 

She is the genius that combined lots of wonderful recipes from bloggers across the web to create the ultimate blueberry crumble pie. And in case you even dared to ignore it, the streusel crumble on top is the most glorious element of the show.

Actually, I think Janelle hit gold by going for wild blueberries (most grocery stores now sell them in the freezer department) which transform this pie. This is sure to be one of your new favorite summer desserts!

Ingredients for Blueberry Pie

There are three components to this recipe so it looks like a lot of ingredients but most of them overlap to it’s really just a short list. Here is what you will need:

Shortbread Crust

• Flour: regular all purpose
• Powdered Sugar: all the sweetness without the grainy texture of granulated sugar
• Butter: unsalted is preferred
• Vanilla: adds flavor
• Almond Extract: adds flavor
• Salt: enhances all the flavors

Filling

• Wild Blueberries: you can use frozen if needed
• Lemon Zest and Juice: fresh is best
• Sugar: regular granulated, it balances the tartness of the berries
• Cornaby’s EZ Gel: thickens the filling
• Salt: enhances the sweetness

Streusel Topping

• Flour: all purpose
• Brown Sugar: adds richness and sweetness to the streusel crumble
• Sugar: a little more sweetness
• Salt: cuts the sweetness
• Butter: unsalted is preferred

Optional Glaze

• Powdered Sugar: adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the lemon juice
• Lemon Juice: must be fresh
• Milk: thins out the glaze a little

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

This strawberry rhubarb crisp is pure comfort with the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness and a buttery oat topping. I always eat it a la mode!

I grew up with a rhubarb obsessed father. Is it a generational thing? I’m going to bet most people these days have never even tried rhubarb yet everyone’s Mom and Dad seem to love it. I hated it. I mean, wouldn’t even touch the stuff! I’m still a bit weird about it depending on how it is used, but cook it down with sweet berries and sugar and I don’t even know how to explain it, it becomes a whole new creature! It’s so good!!

Recommended Equipment

• Sure Gel Ultra Gel
• Pastry Blender

Before You Begin…

Get about 3 cups of water boiling over high heat. You’ll use the boiling water to soften and prep the rhubarb for the crisp. Rhubarb can be quite bitter but letting in sit in boiling water for a couple of minutes will dull the bitterness.

Ingredients for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

For the Filling

• Rhubarb: A vegetable that has edible stalks that are usually pink in color. It is quite sour like a lemon but it becomes sweeter as it cooks. It is a great source of antioxidants, fiber and vitamin K.
• Strawberries: You will want to wash and hull the strawberries before cutting them up.
• Sugar: Helps sweeten the filling.
• Brown Sugar: Adds richness and sweetness to the filling.
• Sure Gel Ultra Gel: Thickens the filling so that the filling isn’t water. You can also use flour or cornstarch.
• Lemon Zest: Adds an extra pop of flavor and brightness
• Cardamom: A spice commonly used in Indian food that has a complex flavor that is floral but also citrusy.

For the Topping

• Old Fashioned Rolled Oats: You can use quick oats too but I love the texture and chewiness the old fashioned oats add.
• Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness to the topping
• Flour: Adds structure to the topping
• Cinnamon: Adds warmth and flavor
• Salt: Enhances all the flavors of the topping
• Unsalted Butter: Adds flavor and binds all the ingredients together

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card down below. This is just meant to be an overview of the ingredients so keep on scrolling down for all the details.

What are Substitutes for Ultra Gel?

I prefer ultra gel over flour or cornstarch for thickening. I feel like there’s a flavor that accompanies both whereas the ultra gel is flavorless. But if you don’t have ultra gel or you don’t want to buy it, you can use flour or cornstarch.

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Welcome to the weekend, my friends! Bring on the sunshine. Sean is hiking in Moab with a friend this weekend and I’m here with the boys. I bought a pickleball set to try, so we’ll be giving that a shot in the driveway today. (Fingers are crossed that it will be easy enough to set up and that we’ll actually enjoy it!)

If you’re in the area, Cedar & Thread and Green Velvet are having their annual tent sales today, the odds are good that I’ll stop by both locations later. It should be a fun and also pretty relaxing weekend. I wish you the same!

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Half a box of pasta, a pound of sausage, and some green cabbage that was tucked in the fridge added up to a winning last-minute meal a few weeks ago. The cabbage sausage pasta was such a hit with my family that I decided to make it again and write up the recipe to share with you all.

The best stir fries are salty, savory, sweet, and just a little bit spicy. This ground beef and broccoli stir fry nails all of those things.

Cajun coleslaw is nicely balanced with just the right amount of tang, a bit of sweetness, and just a hint of heat. The dressing coats the salad lightly without weighing it down.

Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that taste fantastic and also happen to be gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan? Oh yeah, it’s possible. And best of all, you can likely make these with ingredients you already have on hand! No special ingredients are required.

Cherries and pineapple are tossed into a fluffy, creamy, sweet dressing to create this old-fashioned cherry fluff salad. Much like the ever-popular strawberry pretzel salad, cherry fluff isn’t really a salad at all.

Bubbling with sticky sweet cherries in their juices and topped with a buttery, flaky, cinnamon sugar crust, this cherry cobbler is a cherry lover’s dream come true.

Creamy, sweet, and slightly tangy cottage cheese ice cream tastes so much like cheesecake ice cream, you’ll do a double take! With three times the protein, it’s a new staple in our freezer. I dressed this batch of ice cream up with a berry swirl and graham cracker pieces throughout, but the options are nearly endless. I’m already playing a couple of new flavors.

What I’m CRAVING: Fried mushrooms! A friend mentioned them the o