Just recently I recreated my own version of Lilia Tyrrell’s crudité platter (Originally published in Edible Bozeman, Spring 2021), complete with purple cauliflower (that turns a vibrant fuchsia color right before your eyes when you spritz it with lemon juice) and green goddess dressing. The colors, the display, the original selection, I think you’ll agree, she is truly inspired and inspiring.
Tips for a beautiful vegetable platter:
- Choose colorful and unusual vegetables. Everyone is sick of the plastic grocery store veggie trays with the same four vegetables on them. Try beets, purple cauliflower, endive, and tri-color carrots. Scan your cart and make sure you have a good mix of green, red, yellow, orange, white, and purple.
- Keep a little green stem. If you can, find vegetables with the stalk still attached to add a beautiful touch, whether it’s on radishes, carrots, baby squash, or beets.
- Don’t forget the minis. Aside from baby carrots—don’t get me started on the fraud that is “baby” carrots—everyone loves the mini versions of things, right? So try for baby beets, broccolini, pickling cucumbers, or haricots verts.
- Blanch for color and texture. Quickly blanch the tougher vegetables to brighten their color and make them more palatable; this is especially nice for asparagus, broccolini, beets, cauliflower, and green beans. Do this in advance and keep refrigerated.
- Make it abundant. Pack your platter or tray tightly with vegetables.
- Make it tall. Create height on the tray by adding slender and tall vegetables in cups or jars.
- Once the platter is composed, squeeze lemon over the entire tray (bonus: this will turn purple cauliflower a stunning shade of pink) and sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.
Green Goddess Dressing
adapted from Lilia Tyrrell in Edible Bozeman, Spring 2021; makes about 4 cups
Ingredients
- 2 bunches fresh herbs (leaves and tender stems): Italian parsley, chives, basil, tarragon, dill, mint, any or all When I use tarragon or mint, I keep the rest simple like parsley and chives
- 1½ cups Greek yogurt 365 (3.5% fat) is my current fave; Fage #2
- 1 cup sour cream Straus Creamery
- ½ cup mayonnaise Best Foods
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard Edmond Fallot
- 1 tablespoon horseradish Bubbies (refrigerated)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
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Add the fresh herbs to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
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Add the yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise, zest and juice from 1 lemon, olive oil, Dijon, and horseradish to a food processor. Season generously with salt and plenty of black pepper. Blend and transfer to glass storage to chill (ideally at least 1 hour before serving).
(Feel free to change the ratio of these creamy ingredients to suit your preference; aim for 3 cups total.)
