Post Patio season is eminent, so bring on the grazing boards. There is nothing I love more than lazily eating my way through snacks with friends in the sunshine. And to kick the most wonderful season of the year off, I put together this veggie board featuring @ongreenhouseveg and a list of my top five tips for building a beautiful and satisfying crudités platter. -Susan of Rhub and Cod
- Choose at least three different veggies to feature on your board. Variety is the spice of life and crudités platters. I went with Ontario greenhouse grown cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and sweet mini peppers. This medley is perfect for a crudités platter because each brings their own unique textures and flavours to the finished board.
- Now that you have a wide array of veggies, let’s talk dip. Add two or more kinds of dip. Store bought or homemade, you do you. I went with an avocado hummus and a feta yogurt dressing but choose what speaks to you. I wouldn’t add more than four dips, though. You don’t want to overwhelm people.
- Don’t chop your veggies more than 2 hours in advance. You want everything to be crisp and juicy, not dried out and sad. And make sure you have about a 1/4 pound of veggies per person. Double that if you’re serving this platter as a casual lunch.
- Arranging a stunning crudités platter is all about finding beautiful ways to fill space. But whatever beautifying elements you add should be delicious as well. That’s why I like to add fresh, complimentary herbs as partitions between each element of the board. In this case I added parsley and dill.
- Add a briny element. Naturally, a crudités platter is all about fresh veggies, they are the stars. But adding a little fermented flavour enhances the freshness of the veg and adds a little contrast to the platter. And don’t shy away from adding a few choice carbs like grilled pita and blue corn chips.
Post by Susan of Rhub and Cod
