How to put together a Crudité Platter? (Full of sweet and savory components)

• Food: Crudité Platter
• Writer: Lizzie Green
• Content-Type: Food Blog

Move over, grocery store veggie tray – here’s the best crudité dish for any occasion! Full of sweet & salty components, it’s a fantastic appetizer.

I adore a good crudité dish. I feel like they get a terrible rap because the grocery store ones with the sad celery, raw cauliflower, and dirty carrots are never the most exciting appetizer at a party, but this board changes that by being bright, vibrant, and delicious!

It’s a delightful blend of fresh items, salty/savory bits, and even a sweet aspect from the delectable Tart Cherry Thyme Compound Butter.

Each little dish is made up of incredibly basic combinations of innovative items that, together, produce a really distinctive crudité platter! I brought this board to my family’s Father’s Day party a few weeks back, and it got devoured up in minutes.

This dish comes from the wonderful book Platters and Boards by Shelly Westerhausen of the blog Vegetarian Ventures.

It’s full of recipes to make entertaining, attractive, yet extremely doable buffets for any occasion. There’s everything from a Beach Board, to a Holiday Hosting Spread, to a Lazy Sunday Brunch Board.

What I enjoy most is the section where Shelly talks about how a board may be a blank canvas for your creativity… or your leftovers.

“It’s a terrific way to use up any vegetables, cheeses, jams, or meats you have sitting around your refrigerator, or use it as an opportunity to explore new foods.

Take a trip to that new cheese shop you’ve been meaning to visit or spend some time in the bulk department of your grocery store.”

How to Make the Best Crudité Platter

The greatest crudité boards feature a mix of these components:

• Lots of fresh veggies – I use tomatoes, blanched snap peas, Persian cucumbers, and carrots.
• A creamy dip — This one is a lovely lemony white bean dip that whizzes up simply in the food processor.
• Something salty – Marinated Feta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Thyme, and Garlic performs this role here. It’s acidic, briny, and very fresh with the addition of the thyme leaves. It brought a lovely pop of flavor to my veggie dish.
• Something sweet – Tart Cherry Thyme Butter is the perfect touch to this combo. It’s SO easy to make, and it was a fantastic sweet, creamy topping for soft baguette slices.

I served my board with baguette, but any carb, like nice crackers or pita chips, or a mix of crackers and bread, is the ideal finishing touch.

Crudité Platter Variations

While I’m enamored with my veggie crudité, you can easily change out the components in each category. Here are some suggestions:

• Fresh veggies – Use whatever’s in season! Broccoli, cauliflower, celery, red peppers, green beans, or radishes would all be wonderful choices.
• A creamy dip — If you’re a fan of dairy-based dips, one would be nice here. You may also try this curry red lentil hummus, beet hummus, or vegan pimento cheese dip.
• Something salty – Cheese is never remiss on a crudité platter, so try adding your favorite soft and hard cheeses. I’m a particular fan of aged cheddar and brie. You may also add some flavorful roasted nuts for crunch or some marinated olives for briny taste.
• Something sweet — Good fruit preserves would be a simple substitution for the butter, especially if you’re adding cheese to your dish. Fresh fruit, such as apples and grapes, is also wonderful alongside the savory components

Crudité Platter

This crudité plate is a guaranteed favorite at parties! Full of crisp, creamy, sweet & salty components, it’s a lively, tasty appetizer from the book Platters and Boards by Shelly Westerhausen.

Ingredients

Marinated Feta

• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 7 ounces feta, cubed
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes, halved
• 8 peppercorns
• 1 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Tart Cherry Thyme Butter:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried tart cherries
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey or pure maple syrup

Herb White Bean Dip:

• 1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons torn fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup water

For serving:

• 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups blanched snap peas
• 3 rainbow carrots, chopped
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced into wedges
• 1 baguette, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Make the Marinated Feta. Layer the thyme, feta, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and peppercorns into a 16-ounce jar. Top with enough olive oil so that the ingredients are submerged. Chill until ready to use. (If the olive oil solidifies in the fridge, let it sit at room temp until liquid.).
2. Make the Cherry Thyme Butter. Combine the butter, dried cherries, thyme, honey, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the butter is creamy and the ingredients are mixed. Transfer to a serving plate or store cold, wrapped in parchment paper.
3. Make the Herb-y White Bean Dip. In a food processor, blend the cannellini beans, olive oil, basil, thyme, rosemary, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper until mixed. With the food processor running, slowly add the water and process until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.
4. Assemble the tray with the cucumbers, snap peas, carrots, tomatoes, baguette, marinated feta, the cherry compound butter, and the herby white bean dip.