Crudite with a twist
You may remember this post that talks about why I now make sure I have appetizers on hand at Thanksgiving dinner. Long story short, if you don’t get the turkey to the table at the appointed time, people can still have something to nosh on instead of having grumbling tummies.
Crudite is one of the easiest things to toss out as a pre-dinner nibble. All you need to do is stop by any grocery store, and you’re bound to find a tray with hard-as-rock baby carrots, chunks of celery, and yummy broccoli, all well-organized around a dish of ranch. There’s nothing wrong with this. It’s easy, everyone has their favorite veg (mine was always potato chips dipped in the ranch, though these days obviously I like the broccoli). Last year I stumbled upon a wonderful idea that I decided to try – roasting crudite.
The article I had read suggested picking up a tray, and then roasting the veggies with a bit of olive oil to bring out their natural sugars. While the veggie tray is easy, it’s not something I normally do since I prefer to have radishes and bell peppers over celery. So I picked up a selection of vegetables to roast. Around the same time I had read (somewhere, I have no idea where now) about an Italian approach to crudite. Serve them with herbed sea salt and olive oil. A person dips the vegetable in the olive oil, then into the salt, followed by a pop into the mouth.
Lovely! You do need to dip lightly in the salt, otherwise it’s too salty. I added rosemary and thyme to my sea salt, which was a great blend.
