how to make dope crudités

i personally think my husband could be a food stylist. he only started cooking about two years ago, but he got so good so quickly, and his plating is always on point. it actually made me super insecure about cooking. you may have noticed i share a lot fewer recipes on the blog now than i used to, this is all because of him.

so i asked him to create a crudité platter for our game night last week, and he really really nailed it. (WELL HEY, i did the shopping all on my own!) because he nailed it so much, i asked him to share his tips for how to recreate your own. this is the first time you’ve heard from gideon on the blog, so this is exciting stuff you guys!

hi! a good crudités or charcuterie is kind of like arranging a bouquet of flowers. you want different colors, in different amounts, composed and scrunched together with a few things that pop, and a few that melt into the background. here are some general tips:

messy is good

you want your plate/board/vessel to look like it’s overflowing with wonderful delicious morsels. mixing up different textures and colors is a good thing. you can have your carrots in several spots, and keep your broccoli all to itself, and sprinkle cherry tomatoes all over — everything looks better and more abundant in a (controlled) jumble.

symmetry is (usually) bad

having equal amounts of carrots on the right and left, with 5 tomatoes on each side, with broccoli next to that… pretty soon your crudités is going to look like the wheel of fortune wheel. this is great if you’re hosting a wheel of fortune party, but it takes away the organic beauty found in a more farm-to-coffee-table look, and makes it appear more like you bought that plastic platter at the grocery store. maybe start with a teensy bit of symmetry as a base, and then mess it up as you add the rest.

edible garnish is still edible

leafy or herbal garnishes look great on a platter like this, and you’d be surprised how many guests end up dipping your dill springs into the ranch and making a snack of it. basically, as long as it’s edible, there’s no rules or reason to hold back on an arrangement like this. use everything you have that makes it pretty (as long as you can eat it).

find ways to make it unique

you can really make a crudités stand out with unique ingredients or uncommon garnishes. edible flowers and heirloom carrots add unexpected colors. orange bell pepper adds a sweet note and a neon pop to your otherwise planty palate. garnish with unusual herbs like rosemary or baby dill or sprigs of thyme. if it came from the ground, goes in your mouth, and looks good on the plate, then it belongs in your crudités.