Now that summer’s here and we all have a wide array of fresh and colorful vegetables to choose from at the farmers market or grocery store – why not pick your favorites and throw them all together on a platter?!… Try to be as creative as possible, when selecting the veg – imagine you’re not only putting together something delicious – but something beautiful like a bouquet of…… vegetables
Some handy tips to keep the board looking decidedly different than the go-to plastic encased grocery store variety (blech…)
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Think of a color theme or overall palette you’re going for – then buy creative looking vegetables vs. their standard counterparts (no to chunky standard broccoli florets ..try thinly cut broccolini… stuff like that)
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add microgreens and herbs
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add smaller containers of sharply flavored items – peppers, olives, sauces etc.
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Add charcuterie and cheeses… think about cutting or separating up into individual pieces so fingers or toothpicks can easily pick up in one bite
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Burrata always WINS… (don’t forget to drizzle olive oil over that cloud of creaminess and have crackers on the side so you can shovel it up with out making too much of a mess)
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MOST IMPORTANT: Sprinkle salt and/or seasonings over the entire thing. One of my favs is Tajin Clasico Lime… that salty/lime-y/peppery sprinkle goes great on ANYTHING. If not at your regular grocery, check out your nearest latin or mexican market. https://www.tajin.com/us/
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SECOND MOST IMPORANT: Have good crusty bread or crackers to serve next to the board (no to Ritz…yes to Rosemary Crisps from 34-degrees) https://34-degrees.com/collections/entertaining-crisps…. OK Ritz can be used but if only for an ironically themed 80s party – which case you’ll also be allowed to use Velveeta 🙂
For the deeper socio-political meaning and value behind plain ol’ vegetables in the cru… just check out this NYTimes article from 2018.
