Vegetable & Dip Platter

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Welcome to startcooking.com…I’m Kathy Maister.

A vegetable and dip platter is perfect for a party.

The vegetables are the healthy part and the dip is the decadent splurge.

Check my blog for different dip recipes!

Today…we’re going to use hummus for dipping the vegetables.

It’s a dip made from chickpeas…garlic… Lemon..and olive oil.

You can buy it ready-made at the grocery store

It’s often found right next to the salsa.

• 
  Choose vegetables that you like…in any combination.

  Be sure to wash all the vegetables before cutting them.

  ***************
  The peppers need to be cut…and the seeds and stem needs to be removed

  Cut the pepper into strips about the same size.

  Not too big…we don’t want any double dipping!

  The different colored peppers actually all have very distinct flavors.

  The red ones are the sweetest!

We need to cut off the ends and peel the carrots.

Always push the peeler away from you.

Otherwise you may be peeling the skin off your knuckles as well.

Now cut them into about 2 inch pieces.

These are still a bit too big…So lets cut them into strips.

Celery either comes as a big bunch or as celery hearts.

Either way you have to wash it and trim the ends.

Then cut it about the same size as the carrot sticks.

• 
  To store celery you could leave it in the plastic bag that it came in or wrap it in tin foil

  It should last about 2 weeks in the fridge.

  ***********
  Don’t wash carrots or celery until you are ready to use them.

Cucumbers need to be washed and some need to be peeled…but not these small pickling cukes.

They just need the ends cut off and then sliced into strips.

• 
  It’s traditional to serve Pita bread with hummus.

  It’s a round…flat…bread… that gets cut into triangles for dipping.

• 
  Assemble the vegetables on a platter with the hummus.

  If there are any left over vegetables…

  ..., wrap them up in a baggie …

  and tomorrow… add some lettuce…and you’ll have a great lunch.

  Enjoy!