Spring is finally here, and what better way to celebrate than enjoying a colorful plate of your favorite seasonal veggies?
A crudités platter makes a perfect offering for a spring potluck or an appetizer for your Easter meal.
It can be as simple or elaborate as you want it to be, but we encourage you to get creative.
In this blog, we've gathered our favorite tips, tricks, and recipes for crafting the best spring vegetable plate.
Key Takeaways
Some of the most popular spring vegetables include carrots, lettuce, asparagus, broccoli, and radishes.
You can assemble a combination of raw, blanched, grilled, roasted, and pickled vegetables on your crudités platter.
Adding dips, dressings, and sauces will tie the whole plate together and ensure all of the veggies get devoured by your guests.
What Makes a Great Spring Vegetable Platter
The perfect spring crudités platter has a variety of raw and cooked veggies complemented by flavorful sauces, dips, and aromatics.
There are endless great combinations of spring vegetables, so you should get creative with your arrangements.
Here are the basic elements of a classic veggie platter:
Leafy Greens
A leafy green base will add volume and color to your crudités plate. Create a beautiful green backdrop with the leaves, and then add the other veggies on top.
Romaine hearts are fresh, flavorful, and great for dipping.
Kale is one of the most nutritious leafy greens and adds tender texture, earthy flavor, and a boost of vitamins to your spring veggie platter.
If you love crispy lettuce, you can use a base of baby iceberg on your platter.
Crunchy Raw Vegetables
Raw vegetables make up the majority of most crudités platters. They're easy to prepare and perfect for dipping.
Broccoli, baby carrots, bell peppers, celery, and cucumbers are all excellent options for a spring veggie plate.
Cooked and Blanched Veggies
To balance out the crunchy raw vegetables, you can add some blanched, grilled, or roasted veggies to your crudités platter.
Steamed bok choy and grilled white corn are two of our seasonal favorites.
You could also sprinkle some blanched and shelled fava beans on the plate.
Fresh Herbs
Fresh herbs bring a vegetable platter to the next level.
Decorate your plate with some chopped cilantro and parsley or sprigs of rosemary and thyme to give it an aromatic lift.
Flavorful Add-Ons
If you love salty or briny snacks, you can make some room for them on your vegetable platter.
Sprinkle sunflower seeds, cashews, or almonds over the plate for extra crunch, or add a dish of pickled cucumbers, carrots, radishes, or asparagus spears.
Dips and Spreads
A delicious dip will keep your guests coming back to the veggie plate for more.
Hummus and tzatziki are always crowd-pleasers, especially if you're putting together a Mediterranean-inspired platter.
It's also hard to go wrong with a classic ranch or green goddess dressing.
9 Fresh Recipes for a Spring Veggie Platter
Fresh Salads
1. Purple Napa Cabbage Slaw
Our purple napa cabbage chopped salad makes a great slaw to add to your spring crudités platter.
The napa cabbage, radicchio, and watermelon create a colorful vegetable medley, and the champagne vinaigrette adds tons of fresh flavor to your veggie plate.
Combine shallots, lemon juice, salt, honey, mustard, vinegar, and olive oil in a bowl to create the vinaigrette dressing.
Chop the napa cabbage, radicchio, apple, and radish, then toss the veggie mixture with the vinaigrette.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and salt over the slaw.
2. Carrot and Bell Pepper "Flowers"
Presentation is half the fun with a spring crudités platter.
Make your sliced bell peppers and carrots more visually interesting by arranging them into colorful spring flowers.
Chop bell peppers or carrots lengthwise.
Place a ramekin of your desired sauce or dip on your serving tray, and arrange the chopped veggies around the ramekin, fanning outward like flower petals.
Add "stems" to your "flowers" with green onions or snap peas.
Roasted, Grilled, and Blanched Veggies
3. Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Roasted purple Brussels sprouts are a delicious addition to your spring vegetable platter.
They can be enjoyed on their own or dipped in your favorite sauce.
Quarter the purple Brussels sprouts and drizzle them with olive oil and salt.
Place the sprouts on a baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.
4. Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
Grilled portobello mushrooms add plant-based protein and umami flavor to a spring vegetable platter.
Cooking the portobello mushrooms on the grill can enhance their flavor, but you can also saute them on the stove if you don't have access to a grill.
Mix together a marinade of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic.
Wash the mushrooms, remove the stems, and coat them with the marinade.
Cook the mushrooms on a greased grill on medium heat for about five minutes, then flip them and continue cooking for two or three more minutes.
5. Blanched Asparagus
Asparagus is the quintessential spring vegetable. Its mild flavor pairs well with a variety of other veggies, herbs, dips, and sauces.
This recipe dresses up the blanched asparagus with olive oil and lemon zest, but you can add any of your favorite seasonings.
Boil asparagus for three to four minutes until it's tender.
Drain the asparagus and immediately place it in a bowl of ice water for one minute.
Add the asparagus to your serving platter and top with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon zest.
Pickled and Marinated Add-Ons
6. Pickled Carrots and Daikon
If you like pickled vegetables, these pickled carrots and daikon radishes are a must-try.
They're quick and easy to prepare, and they add a delightful zing to your spring crudités plate.
Julienne the carrots and daikon radishes by hand or with a mandoline slicer and place them in a pickling jar.
In a saucepan, mix together a brine of equal parts water, white sugar, and apple cider vinegar with a pinch of salt.
Boil the brine for three to four minutes, then pour it over the veggies.
Let the jar sit at room temperature for three to four hours, then chill it in the fridge for one hour before serving.
7. Marinated Artichokes
Marinated artichoke hearts are tender, flavorful, and nutritious.
This recipe is packed with herbs and seasonings, so you can make it the centerpiece of your veggie platter.
Quarter the artichoke hearts and place them in a jar.
Add sliced garlic, Italian herbs, chili flakes, peppercorns, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice.
Let the artichokes marinate for at least an hour before serving.
Dips, Spreads, and Dressings
8. Fava Bean Dip
No crudités platter is complete without at least one dip or dressing.
Our fava bean dip recipe is fresh, flavorful, and perfect for the springtime.
Saute chopped onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender.
Add shelled, blanched, and peeled fava beans and saute for a few more minutes.
Put the mixture in a food processor with lemon juice, salt, olive oil, and garbanzo beans and process until the consistency is smooth and creamy.
9. Tzatziki Sauce
Tzatziki is a delightful dipping sauce for spring and summer vegetables.
You can whip up a batch of homemade tzatziki sauce in less than 10 minutes, and it's sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Grate cucumber and one clove of garlic, and chop up some fresh dill and mint.
Combine the veggies and herbs with a cup of whole milk Greek yogurt, and drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.
Savor the Season With Fresh Produce
We hope you enjoy all the warm weather, bright colors, and delicious foods that spring has to offer.
With these recipes, getting your daily servings of vegetables has never been easier.
Here at Hitchcock Farms, we're committed to providing fresh and delicious produce year-round so that you can continue to create healthy, delicious recipes.
FAQ
How should I assemble a veggie platter?
Assembling a crudités plate is a creative venture, and there's no wrong answer.
It can be helpful to start by placing your ramekin of sauces or dips on the platter.
Then, layer some leafy greens as a base and start filling up the plate with your bulkier vegetables.
Finally, top your plate with herbs, nuts, seeds, and other small bites.
Can I prepare a spring veggie platter ahead of time?
You can prepare a veggie platter a few hours ahead of time.
For maximum freshness, we recommend assembling the plate the day you plan to eat it.
Can I make a spring veggie platter kid-friendly?
A colorful and varied crudités platter is a great way to encourage your kids to eat their veggies.
If you're feeling especially creative, you could arrange the veggies to look like flowers or your kids' favorite animals.
