little carrots
green onions
cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 mushrooms
jicama cut like french fries
zucchini sticks
celery
green/red/yellow bell peppers in strips
Cucumber slices
snow peas

Just browse the produce section, and you'll probably think of more things

I always go for the carrots, red and green peppers. I skip the cauliflower and celery. I'm kind of "meh" about broccoli, uncooked. I've also seen snap peas and the other flat green pea that I can't think of right now. It's always in Asian stir fry dishes. Senior moment -- sorry.

Yeah -- snow peas.

Either all or some of....
Carrot strips
Celery sticks
Green onions
Green, yellow and red pepper strips.
skinny raw asparagus
jicama
cucumber strips
zucchini strips
Belgian endive...if you can find it now
Cauliflower florettes
And apples, pears and grapes are always a nice addition.
Linda c

Thanks girls! Jicama is a great idea I would not have thought of for some reason. I like to use turnips, but the only ones I've seen the last few weeks were nearly as big as a gazing ball.

and then there's...

petite asparagus spears (quick-blanched)
celeriac, cut into strips or "half-coins"
fennel (sold in stores as "anise"), strips or curved scoops
daikon, coins or strips
kohlrabi, slices
yard-long beans, blanched
spring onions, slightly grilled
artichoke hearts
endive leaves
radicchio leaves
edamame (display how to eat so that people don't eat the pods)
chayote (quick-blanched)

Joe

I second the vote for endive. I love it with cream cheese.

Broccoli and cauliflower are great, as long as you blanch them, I don't particularly care for them raw.

When I worked for a catering establishment, the crudites trays always ended up mostly getting thrown out, until I got the chef to start blanching some of the veggies.

Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, zucchini spears, sticks of yam, most root vegetables, and asparagus, for example are completely different (and tastier I think) if they are blanched enough to take the "raw" off without getting them soft.

I have had people who swear they HATE Brussels sprouts chow down on them if they are cooked enough to be just barely tender, but still bright green and a bit crunchy.

I love to add radish flowers to a veggie tray. It's an old fashioned kind of thing, but people love them. You trim the stem end off, and either leave the root on (as a "handle" if it's an informal group) or trim it off as well. Then you make deep cross hatch cuts in the radish, from stalk end towards the root end, without cutting all the way through and plop it into a jar of water for a few hours. Swelling with the water, the radish "blooms"...and it becomes quite crisp as well. I like to make the "petals" fairly thin, so I make a lot of cuts.

Green beans (if you can get good, tender ones) are great on a veggie tray if they've been blanched.

I also add green onion tassels if I can get a bunch of thin green onions. It's basically the same technique as the radishes. You take a slender green onion and cut the root end off far enough up the stalk to have some green, but before the leaves branch out. Then you trim the roots off, but it is important to not cut through the onion end itself. Then you use a sharp knife to cross hatch cut from the cut green ends down until you have an inch or so of uncut white part. It's tricky, but the thinner you get the "petals", the prettier it will end up being. Then you put the onions into a jar of water and let them "bloom". The cut ends will curl up, making for a frilly, decorative onion flower that tastes quite good dipped in whatever is available.

carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, peppers, and peas are musts for me...I love broccoli and radishes too.

You all have really given me some good suggestions. I really wanted the jicama, couldn't find it in the first store, bought it at the second store although they only had two and neither looked good. When I peeled and cut into it it was kind of tan looking. I tasted it, didn't taste good, so I had to throw it away. Everyone's produce looked bad today. Even the cauliflower I found already had black spots on it. I ended up with radishes, red bell peppers, carrots, turnips, celery, zucchini, and a few grape tomatoes. I did buy a little broccoli for the guests.

I have used this recipe many times and it is always a huge hit. I really like the asparagus and green beans. And since I found this recipe I always blanch my cauliflower and broccoli now. I like it much better than raw.

Crudite Platter with Roasted Garlic Aioli
From Cottage Living 2/07

1 bunch baby carrots (leave about 1 inch of green tops on
1/2 head broccoli, cut into florets & blanched
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets & blanched
1 lb asparagus, trimmed & blanched
1/2lb green beans, blanched
Cherry tomatoes
Red, orange or green peppers, sliced
1/2 lb small red potatoes (I didn't use)
1 belgian endive, leaves separated (I didn't use)

Arrange prepared vegetables on platter and serve with aioli for dipping

Roasted Garlic Aioli

1 head garlic
1 T olive oil
1 c good quality mayonnaise
1 6oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
1 T Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut off pointed end of garlic, place on a piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap tightly and roast for about 30-40 minutes or until soft. Let garlic cool and then squeeze the pulp from the cloves into the bowl of a food processor.

Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Aioli may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

4/07 my notes-Beautiful presentation! I used a bag of baby carrots. Served as appetizer at Easter and it was gone in a flash. Aioli recipe makes a lot of dip.

Linda