Crudité Platter is Boring and Wrong

Crudité platters as a party food are problematic.If you eat raw broccoli in private, it makes sense, but if you come home expecting food, A platter of raw baby carrots and celery sticks doesn’t count. It’s their preparation—like, There should be several. Think of ingredients that go well with each other, such as things that are raw and delicious, things that are blanched, and things that go well with each other…unlike Dr. OzHe makes a crudité platter by grabbing the first five items he sees next to each other in the produce section of a misidentified grocery store and washing it all down with a warm glass of tequila.

(I can handle tequila; it’s raw asparagus soaked in chunky salsa that I can’t keep up with.)

Fortunately, we can do better than Dr. Oz. There are a few ways to make a raw platter really great, but it all starts with thoughtful preparation of your vegetables. Too often, the crudité platter feels like filler food that someone tossed on the platter because they didn’t have time to make it. a proper salad, and there will always be leftovers at the end of the party. You can see that raw vegetables (root vegetables) are included. Crudas meaning raw), but there should still be an element of planning going into the vegetables you choose.

whiten your greens

Raw vegetables are bitter. Broccoli, asparagus, green beans, and snap peas can all be briefly blanched to reduce bitterness. Not only does it enhance the flavor, but it also enhances the natural color of vegetables, making them beautiful, vibrant and eye-catching. maintain. Additionally, if you’re concerned about critters that may be roaming around, blanching will kill a fair amount of critters.

To blanch, bring water to a boil in a large pot over high heat and have an ice-water bath nearby. bright colors). Add vegetables to boiling water for 1 minute or 30 seconds to create thin, delicate vegetables. (You can also pour freshly boiled water If you’re worried about overcooking, place it on top of delicate vegetables. Cool completely. Allow to dry before placing on a platter.

mix

Raw celery is a natural floss, but remove it from your platter. Now that you have a combo of raw and blanched vegetables, it’s time to add the pickle ingredients to your presentation. Pickled green beans, peppers, and zucchini are not only visually interesting, but they also improve the flavor profile. A salty and vinegary sip is a great break from rich dips like hummus. While we’re talking about hummus, mix in dips too. Believe it or not, not everyone likes ranches. Offer a couple of dips or toppings (spicy, herbal, etc.). jogor olive tapenade) to play the flavors you’re locking in your platter.

make vegetables look like vegetables

If you’re presenting a stupendous harvest of vegetables, make it look like a version of the shot that’s appealing. Instead of bulk bags of baby carrots that look like giant orange Tic-Tacs, grab a bunch of small, whole carrots that are still green. The small handles are attractive. Lightly peel and peel carrots for an irresistible vegetable. Trader Joe’s has prepared bags rainbow carrot It works. The same applies to baby radishes. Instead of slicing, leave a bit of the stem and leave it whole, leaving the taproot if possible. Instead of slicing large cucumbers, consider mini cucumbers or cocktail cucumbers that can simply be split in half.

When finished, the crudité platter looks like a centerpiece that shines as it should.