Crudités and Dips
Crudités
INGREDIENTS
Serves 6
½ cup broccoli florets
½ cup cauliflower florets
½ cup trimmed and quartered radishes
2 Persian (mini) cucumbers, cut into spears
3 ribs celery, halved lengthwise and cut into 3-inch lengths
4 small carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 head Belgian endive, root end trimmed off, separated into leaves
12 cherry tomatoes
6 asparagus, peeled from the tip down and cut into 4-inch pieces
16 green beans, ends trimmed
1 small zucchini, cut into spears
Instructions
Wash all vegetables very well and dry on a kitchen towel. Cut any combination of these vegetables—whatever is best and in season—into attractive shapes and arrange on a platter.
Serve with tapenade, hummus, and baba ghanoush.
tapenade
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
2 cups mixed pitted olives, such as Niçoise, Picholine, or Castelvetrano
1 small clove garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Thoroughly rinse the olives under cold water.
In a large mortar or the bowl of a food processor, combine the olives, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil. If using a mortar and pestle, hold the moartar with your nondominant hand. With the pestle in your other hand, gently push and twist until a coarse paste is formed. If using a food processor, pulse mixture until the same coarse texture is achieved.
Transfer to a bowl and serve.
Hummus
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 to 6
2 cups dried chickpeas (or 6 cups canned, drained and rinsed)
Salt
½ cup tahini
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
2 teaspoons paprika
Instructions
If using dried chickpeas, soak them in water to cover by 2 inches for 12 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Drain them and transfer to a large pot. Add cold water to cover the beans by 2 inches and add 2 teaspoons salt. Bring the water to a simmer and cook until the beans are tender, about 50 minutes. They should be tender and cooked through, but not waterlogged. Reserving the cooking broth, drain the chickpeas.
In a food processor, combine the tahini, ¼ cup of the extra-virgin olive oil, the garlic, and the chickpeas and blend until smooth. Add the lemon juice and salt and white pepper to taste, and thin the consistency as desired with some of the reserved chickpea cooking liquid, or warm water if using canned beans.
Scrape the hummus into a bowl, sprinkle with the paprika, and drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top.
Baba Ganoush
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
1 medium eggplant (about 1 ½ pounds), halved lengthwise
Fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 small garlic clove, peeled
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, toasted, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Season the flesh side of each eggplant half with salt and pepper and drizzle each half with 1 tablespoon of oil. Place each half flesh side down on a sheet pan and bake until the flesh is slightly browned and very soft, 25 to 30 minutes.
When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop the flesh into a blender (discard the skin). Add the garlic, cumin, and lemon juice and blend on medium speed. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl and season with salt and white pepper. Serve the baba ganoush with a bit of cumin sprinkled over it and olive oil drizzled on top.