Make Ahead

Pickled Crudité with Green Goddess Dressing

December 11, 2017
4.3
3 Ratings
Photo by Alexandra Stafford
  • Makes 1.25 cups dressing
Author Notes

Green Goddess Dressing adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables.

Pickled Vegetables adapted from a favorite David Lebovitz recipe for pickled radishes—I use this simple method to pickle everything.

To prepare the carrots: scrub them and trim off the straggly tip and the greens, leaving a bit of the green intact—see photos for reference. I don't peel them, but if you want to, go for it.

Scale the pickling liquid up or down depending on how many vegetables you are using. —Alexandra Stafford

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8 to 10 carrots, stems intact but trimmed, see notes above
  • 1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets — think about the size you would want for dipping/eating
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 2 anchovies, minced
  • 1 avocado
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup finely chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, tarragon, cilantro, chives, basil
  • for serving: radishes, endive, Treviso, Romaine, Little Gems
Directions
  1. To pickle the vegetables: In a large non-reactive saucepan, bring the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil, until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
  2. Meanwhile, place the carrots and cauliflower in a large bowl (or two separate bowls if you don't want the color of the carrots to tint the cauliflower). Pour the pickling liquid over top. Press with a spatula to submerge. Transfer the vegetables and liquid to storage containers — use separate containers if you don't wish the cauliflower to turn color. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Store for weeks if not longer.
  3. Make the dressing: Place the shallot and garlic in a large bowl. Cover with the vinegar, the juice of half a lemon, and a pinch of salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Add the anchovy and the flesh of the avocado. Mash together with a fork or whisk. Add the herbs. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Taste. You can stop here if you wish or add the cream for a richer taste. Taste and adjust the seasoning to taste with salt (1/4 teaspoon at a time), pepper, lemon or vinegar if necessary.
  4. To serve: Arrange pickled vegetables and other vegetables on a platter. Spoon green goddess dressing into a dip bowl and serve alongside the vegetables.

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I write the blog alexandra's kitchen, a place for mostly simple, sometimes fussy, and always seasonal recipes. My cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs is available everywhere books are sold.

2 Reviews

Peony November 24, 2022
This is a fantastic recipe, will keep in my rotation forever. Makes raw vegetables taste and look better and they are a fantastic combo with the dressing. We pickled carrots, radishes, cauliflower and also served non-picked cherry tomatoes and endive. We kept the vegetables apart during pickling so the red and range carrots didn’t discolor the long ghetto-colored vegetable. We only picked for a few hours at room temp and then chilled them in the fridge for a bit before serving. Made a great snack before Thanksgiving dinner. Highly recommend.
 
Peony November 24, 2022
Light-colored vegetables, not long ghetto- colored. Wow, this is a loaded autocorrect.