A Discussion About Crudites...

Remember in one of my last posts I mentioned how much I loved vegetables?  Well, I'm touching on that one again.  Fresh, raw, crisp, cold veggies are one of my favorite snack-y foods!  In fact, I snack on some almost every day. At a party, they can provide some crunchy, freshness amidst a table of hot and gooey foods.  They balance it all out.  And, anything you can eat on a cracker, you can eat with crudites ("cr-ood-eh-tay").  At home, I like to dip mine into Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (oh, so delicious), but almost anything will work.  What goes onto a great crudite platter? Red, green and yellow bell peppers, baby corn, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, green onions, radishes, snow peas, cherry and grape tomatoes, olives, etc...  Cut everything to about the same size, the peppers, celery and carrots into strips; the broccoli and cauliflower into florets, and the cucumbers and radishes into thin, round slices.  Also, it's much cheaper to buy the whole veggies and cut them yourself, than it is to buy them pre-washed, pre-sliced and pre-packaged.  I'm a big fan of the DIY kitchen!

Some Ideas:

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip
Boil 1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach and 1 1/2 cups chopped artichoke hearts in 1 cup of water until tender and drain.  Heat 6 ounces cream cheese (I always use fat free) in microwave 1 minute or until hot and soft.  Stir in 1/4 cup sour cream (fat free, again) 1/4 cup mayonnaise (low-fat, here), 1/3 cup grated Parmesan, 1/2 t red pepper flakes, 1/4 t salt and 1/4 t garlic powder.  Serve hot.

Hot Crab Dip
Combine 1 lb jumbo lump crabmeat, 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese, 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, 1/4 cup minced green onions, 2 cloves minced garlic, 3 T Worcestershire sauce, 2 T fresh lemon juice, 1 t hot pepper sauce (I love Cholula, but Tabasco is fine), 1/2 t dry mustard, salt and pepper in a casserole dish.  Bake for 40 minutes at 325 degrees. Serve hot.

Hot Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Dip
Caramelize 2 large vidalia onions, halved and thinly sliced.  (To do this: heat 2 T vegetable oil and 2 T butter in a large skillet.  Add the onions and 2 cloves minced onions.  Cook, about 20 minutes, until the onions are soft and a caramel color.)  In a food processor, pulse together 4 oz blue cheese, 2 8-oz packages of softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup sour cream.  Place in a bowl and add the caramelized onions.  Season with salt and pepper and pour into an 8 x 8 baking dish.  Sprinkle with 1/3 cup bread crumbs.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature.

Cold Green Goddess Dip (the fresh herbs in this dip really pop with crudites)

Place the following into a food processor or blender (chopped up): 1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted and peeled; 2 scallions (green onions), coarsely chopped; 1/4 cup fresh tarragon; 1/4 cup fresh parsley; 3/4 cup buttermilk; and 1/2 t salt.  Puree until smooth.

Onion Dip (from scratch!)
Caramelize 1 1/2 cups diced onions with 2 T olive oil and 1/4 t salt (read directions above), set aside to cool.  Mix together 1/2 t salt, 1 1/2 cups sour cream, 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 t garlic powder, 1/4 t ground white pepper.  Add the cooled onions and refrigerate until cold. Stir again before serving.

Guacamole Dip from This Guac Rocks! posted 1/28/11

Of course, you could use those prepackaged dip powders mixed with sour cream, but when you can make it from scratch with fresh ingredients, why wouldn't you?

(FYI: Most of the leftover veggies from your crudite platter can be steamed the next day or perhaps used in a stir fry. )