With so many Spring vegetables in abundance right now, there's no better way to celebrate Earth Day than to create a spread that highlights the natural sweetness of farm-fresh vegetables.
Serve the vegetables alongside green goddess dressing, a mild yet complex blend of lemon, anchovies, garlic, and sour cream that dates back to the 1920s.
For a basic appetizer, arrange fresh crudités on a tray, or to take it to the next level, throw your seasonal vegetables on the grill. To see two enticing renditions of this verdant starter, read more.
Adapted from Bon Appétit
Ingredients
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 anchovy fillets
1 medium shallot, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 large ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, quartered
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup olive oil
Heads of green and red Belgian endive, trimmed, leaves separated
Easter Egg radishes, trimmed, with some tops still attached
Heirloom baby carrots, peeled, trimmed, with some tops still attached
Persian or Japanese cucumbers, cut into 3x1/2-inch spears
Sugar snap peas, trimmed
Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, cut into 3x1/2-inch strips
Directions
- Combine lemon juice, anchovies, shallot, vinegar, and garlic in processor. Blend until shallot and garlic are finely chopped. Add avocado, sour cream, parsley, tarragon, and basil; blend until almost smooth.
- With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube in thin stream. Transfer dip to small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place bowl of dip on large platter. Surround with vegetables.
Serves 10.
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From Food & Wine
Ingredients
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 Asian eggplants (about 2 pounds), sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick
6 portobello mushrooms, stemmed
2 fennel bulbs, stalks and feathery fronds discarded, bulbs sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick through the core
2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick
2 medium yellow squash, sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick# 1 medium cauliflower, core trimmed, head sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick
2 large red bell peppers, cored and quartered
Green Goddess Dressing:
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced tarragon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
- Make the dressing: In a mini food processor, combine the parsley, anchovies, garlic and tarragon and process to a fine paste. Blend in the sour cream, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Scrape the dressing into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until serving time.
- Light a grill. In a medium bowl, mix the olive oil with the basil and season generously with salt and pepper. Brush the basil oil on the vegetables. When the fire is medium-hot, arrange the eggplant slices on the hottest area of the grill and surround with the portobellos and sliced fennel. Grill, basting often with the oil and turning once, until the vegetables are nicely charred and almost tender, about 6 minutes for the eggplant and 10 minutes for the portobellos and fennel. Transfer the vegetables to a platter and cover loosely with foil.
- Put the zucchini and yellow squash on the hottest part of the grill and surround them with the cauliflower and red bell peppers. Grill, basting often with the basil oil and turning once, until the vegetables are nicely charred and almost tender, 1 to 2 minutes for the zucchini, 6 minutes for the bell peppers and 10 minutes for the cauliflower. Add the vegetables to the platter and serve with the Green Goddess Dressing.
Serves 6.
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Derek Lam
Burberry
Yves Saint Laurent
Is there a substitute for anchovies for us vegetarians who want to try this? I saw it in Alice Water's Chez Panisse cookbook and have been wanting to try it without potentially losing some of the flavor in the fish product.
1I have to admit. I've never tried this dip.
2I made this last year (Barefoot Contessa recipe) and we loved it so much that my husband asks for all the time now.
3Cokerad — I've never tried to make it without anchovies, which seem to be a pretty critical component to the dish (they add a mild zing and some saltiness). Still, it might be worth trying. Has anyone else tried to make green goddess dip sans the anchovies?
4Very diff from my typical love on onion dip.
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