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

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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.