you know by now i’m a big fan of a pretty platter of food (evidence here and here), because it’s always impressive, but also suuuuper simple to put together! plus people just love to pick at platters full of food with their hands (or at least the people i know do).

i’ve teamed up with NEWELL BRANDS, MAKERS OF BALL® FRESH PRESERVING PRODUCTS again, this time i’ve pickled all sorts of stuff to make a gorgeous crudités platter full of pickled everything — which is kind of a perfect holiday dish, because its pretty and you can leave it out all night to nosh on without it spoiling.

in order to achieve the colorful array, try to pick out as many brightly colored veggies in coordinated tones as you can. i also “faked it” by adding a couple of extra slices of radishes and a little bit of the deep purple carrot brine to my white veggies while they pickled, so both came out pink. i skipped the orange carrots that came in the bag, you get the idea.

to play around with texture, i chopped the same vegetables in different ways. i used rainbow radishes and quartered the pretty pink ones, and then i used my mandoline for the deeper shade ones. i got a large cucumber, then i thinly sliced half of it and did thin spears with the rest. and with a bag of baby carrots, i left the yellow whole and quartered the purple ones. you can barely even tell i used a bunch of the same vegetables, but it’s a really great way to save money without going overboard on shopping.

simple pickle brine

3 cups white wine vinegar (5%)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 bay leaves
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 tsp whole allspice
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 cups of whatever you want to pickle (i used rainbow radishes, golden beets, one large cucumber,  one bag of baby carrots, cauliflower, pearl onions)
jars (i used 16 oz sharing jars, 16 oz spiral jars and 4 oz mini jars)

bring everything to a boil in a medium pot over high heat, stirring occasionally. reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. divide all your sliced vegetables among your jars, and pour the brining liquid into each. let cool to room temperature, then cover and chill at least 2 hours. (the pickles will last stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks) 

to setup your platter, lay down one veggie at a time in a long row, starting with the largest ones in size or quantity. try to spread out similar colors as much as you can to different sections, and once you’ve laid everything out, just spread things apart to fill any empty spaces. you can also redo spots or move things around — just lay things out and see what works! garnish with micro greens or edible flowers. keep in the fridge until your guests arrive and then practice all your different versions of thank you for all the compliments you’ll get.

this would also be a dish you easily could transport if you’re a guest, and the canned pickles would also make a perfect gift for the host or hostess instead (and ps, for every package of sharing jars purchased, newell brands donates 4 meals in partnership with feeding america).

THIS POST IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NEWELL BRANDS,
MAKERS OF BALL® FRESH PRESERVING PRODUCTS.
ALL OPINIONS ARE 100% MY OWN