Your Plate of Crudité Is Boring and Unfaithful
There is a problem with raw plates as party food. It’s one thing if you eat raw broccoli alone, but if I come to your house waiting for food, a dish of raw baby carrots and celery sticks doesn’t count. It’s not about vegetables (I love them for their nutrients, color, and texture). This is their preparation – it seems like it should be. We have to consider what will taste good raw, what should be blanched, and what ingredients will go well together— unlike Dr. Oz , who prepares raw meals by grabbing the first five foods he sees next to each other in the grocery aisle. . misidentified the grocery store before washing it all down with a warm glass of tequila.
(I can handle tequila; it’s raw asparagus dipped in thick salsa that I can’t resist.)
Fortunately, we can do better than Dr. Oz. There are several ways to make crudites truly great, and it all starts with the careful preparation of the vegetables. All too often, assorted crudité feels like stuffing someone tossed onto a plate because there wasn’t time to make a real salad , and there’s always leftovers at the end of the party. It is clear that we are talking about raw vegetables (the root crudus means raw), but there must still be an element of planning that relates to the vegetables that you choose.
Blanch your greens
Raw greens are bitter. Broccoli, asparagus, green beans, and peas are best blanched quickly to soften the bitterness. This not only enhances the taste, but also enhances the natural color of the vegetables, making them beautiful, bright and attractive. Even though the vegetables or fruits are cooked on the outside with this technique, they retain their raw, crunchy texture on the inside. Also, if you’re worried about any organisms that might be roaming around, blanching will kill a fair amount of them.
To blanch, boil a large pot of water over high heat and prepare an ice water bath nearby. Add a tablespoon of salt just before tossing vegetables (this helps to achieve a brighter color ). Add vegetables to boiling water for one minute to 30 seconds for subtle, tender greens. (You can also soak tender vegetables in freshly boiled water if you’re afraid they’ll overcook.) Remove vegetables with a sieve, tongs, or colander if you’re not blanching anything else. Immediately immerse the vegetables in a water bath to shock them and stop cooking. Cool completely. Dry them before putting them on a plate.
stir
While raw celery is a natural floss, just take it off your plate. Use his absence to mix things up a bit. Now that you have a combination of raw and blanched vegetables, add some pickled ingredients to your presentation. Pickled green beans, peppers and zucchini can be visually interesting but also enhance the flavor. A salty, vinegary bite can be a welcome respite from fatty sauces like hummus and pave the way for new snacks. While we’re on the subject of hummus, mix in the dipping sauces as well. I know it’s hard to believe, but not everyone likes a ranch. Suggest two or three dipping sauces or toppings (like spicy, herbal choug , or olive tapenade) to play with the flavors you rock on the platter.
Let vegetables be vegetables
If you’re presenting a colossal crop of vegetables, make them look like a glamorous version of themselves. The most beautiful rough plates I have ever seen contain the most vegetable parts. Instead of a large bag of small carrots that look like giant orange Tic Tacs, grab a bunch of miniature whole carrots with the greens intact. You certainly don’t need to leave the whole strand of greenery attached, but the little handle at the end is adorable. Lightly peel carrots to remove dry skin, and you have an unbeatable vegetable. Trader Joe has a bag of cooked rainbow carrots that work well. The same goes for young radish; instead of chopping them, leave them whole with a little bit of stem left and leave out the taproot if you can. Think mini cucumbers or cocktail cucumbers, which can simply be cut in half instead of chopping up a large cucumber.
Once you’re done, your raw dish will look like the radiant centerpiece that it should have been.