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An Easy Spring Appetizer You Can Whip Up in a Flash

Crudité Board with Green Goddess Dip

For spring and summer dinners, we love to create meals out of yummy, snack-filled platters. We try to make it casual and relaxed, where everyone can help themselves. Read below to see how to create a delicious and beautiful appetizer: a crudité platter with the easiest green goddess dressing (ok, I cheated a little).

Sometimes during the spring and summer months, Derrick and I will just whip up something like this crudité board to graze on. Accompany it with a crusty baguette and a cheese board and voilà, you have yourselves a dinner!

Photography: Zee Wendell

I’ve followed Annie Campbell, an LA-based party planner and event designer (she’s actually from Oregon!) for a while now. I love to see all the beautiful parties she organizes! They’re always gorgeous, colorful, and of course — the food looks delicious. So, when I saw this post on Pinterest, I read her tips and tricks on how to create a pretty board like this, and loved how it was different from your typical vegetable platter!

The Secret to a Beautiful Appetizer

The secret is to gather healthy, organic vegetables such as golden cauliflower. I’ve never tried this before, but its soooo good! It  tastes similar to your tried-and-true white cauliflower, just prettier 😉. Choose your favorite greens, and add other pretty veggies like radishes, pea pods and mini carrots. Then just slice and arrange in “layers” starting with one veggie, then layering slices of another veggie on top, and so forth.

As Annie says, “The platter matters”… it’s all about the presentation!” She often uses wood boards to display her goodies, and I just love this idea. A cool, vintage wood board is so versatile — we use ours ALLLLL the time for various things like cheese, small desserts or cookies, or sliced bread and butter. I definitely recommend one.

CLOUZ HOUZ TIP: Buy vegetables with the stems still attached. I found mini carrots with the stems, and then I just cut off the green part almost all the way, but left some on for a really organic and pretty touch.

Green Goddess Dressing

A green goddess dip/dressing is one of my faves for this appetizer meal. I cheated a bit and bought a green goddess dressing from Whole Foods. I added it to sour cream with chopped fresh dill, and it was deeeelish. Not everything has to be homemade to taste good! So, wherever and whenever I can cut corners, I will. It makes our lives easier.

Photography: Zee Wendell

Give this a try and graze till your heart’s content. Pour yourself a glass of Rosé, or mix up the Chill Pill. Then, sit outside to enjoy your evening knowing dinner is ready!

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Soaking in every little moment from our Santa Monica trip last week 🌴 As a mom, spending one on one time with each child is always good for the soul. I made this a tradition with each of our kids after graduation and I can’t recommend sneaking away- whether that’s in your city for a staycation or jumping on a plane for a little weekend adventure. Quality time with my kids always fills me up and reminds me the “why” I do what I do in this crazy thing called life.
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Some of our favorite projects are the ones where we get to come in and reimagine the layout and feel of a space through furniture and accents. A fresh start without the full remodel-just the right edits to make your home feel like you.
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Summer Cherry Panzanella 🍒
I love a panzanella salad in the summer… but this one is even better by adding cherries! Never would I have thought to include them but they give a delicious twist to this classic! And the hot honey champagne vinaigrette? She pulls it all together with just the right balance of sweet heat and acidity. And of course, my personal fave, creamy burrata- I can’t get enough!! 
Make sure you save this + here’s how to make it:
Ingredients:
For the salad:
• 2 slices sourdough bread, cut into 1” cubes (about 2 cups)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ½ cups halved cherries
• 1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers
• ½ cup watermelon radishes, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 ¼ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup thinly sliced basil
• 1 ½ tbsp roughly chopped mint
• 4–6 oz burrata
• Optional: a pinch of aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper
For the dressing:
• 2 ½ tbsp champagne vinegar
• 2 ½ tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp hot honey (or regular honey)
• Pinch of salt and pepper
How to Make It-
1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. On a parchment-lined sheet, toss your sourdough cubes with olive oil, minced garlic. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp on the outside but still a little soft inside.
2. In a large bowl, gently toss together the toasted bread, cherries, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, shallots, basil, and mint.
3. In a small jar or bowl, whisk the champagne vinegar, olive oil, Dijon, hot honey, salt, and pepper until smooth and emulsified.
4. Transfer the salad to a serving platter, tear the burrata over the top, drizzle with vinaigrette, and finish with a sprinkle of aleppo or red pepper if you’re into a little kick.
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Every kind comment and bit of feedback during the listing made me smile, seriously. This house has been so good to us... and now it’s on to its next chapter.
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That stuck-in-the-middle feeling? You’re so not alone. We’ve helped so many people through that exact moment-when your space is almost there but still doesn’t feel like you. And the truth is, it’s not about starting over or spending more, it’s about getting clear on your style, so you can trust your gut again. We created this quiz to help you do exactly that. 
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