Green Goddess dip and green crudité, making it easy to be green for Saint Patrick’s Day…

Creating this flavorful Green Goddess Dip and a display of fresh bright green crudité is a favorite tradition for St. Patrick’s Day. For me, this splendid course always feels like a kick-off to Spring. I love the brilliant medley of fresh tarragon, mint, basil, parsley, chives, garlic and green onions blended into a creamy delight, they perfectly highlight the flavor of the crunchy vegetables. It harmonizes beautifully with the umami tastes of the anchovies and Worcestershire “Umami is the fifth taste, joining sweet, sour, salty and bitter” read all about it by clicking on The Splendors of Umami.

 With all of those fresh herbs and vegetables listed below one may fret that there is a lot of labor involved. Thankfully, you can make this Green Goddess in a Vitamix {or blender} with ease and it turns out beautifully. Also, its best to make it a day or 2 in advanced and pull it out just before you’re ready to scoop it into those curled cabbage leaves!

1 – 1/2 cups mayonnaise {Best Foods or Hellman’s preferably}

1 – 1/2 cups sour cream {I choose Tillamook brand}

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

6 anchovies

4 cloves garlic, cut into thirds

6 scallions, including the whites and 4 inches of green, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

24 long chives, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch Italian parsley, washed and all thicker stems removed

20 stems tarragon, leaves and a few inches of the stocks {taste them, they’re full of flavor}!

1/4 cup mint leaves {loosely packed}

1/2 cup basil leaves {loosely packed}

salt and pepper to taste

Then, add a hand full of the herbs to the bowl and turn the processor up to high. Continue to add herbs and process until the mixture looks densely green but still has some dark green sections of the leaves. It should look smooth and blended, but also a little chunky.

The mint are my first tips of Thai Spearmint from one of my mint pots in the courtyard. I cultivate both peppermint and spearmint. Mint is very invasive with horizontal roots and will take over potager if allowed, so it’s best to keep it contained.

Again, this dip tastes better when prepared a few hours or a day or two before serving so the flavors can meld.

For the display I lined a cork bowl with Dinosaur Kale leaves.

I hollowed out the center of a cabbage, and used some of the outer leaves to create natural green “bowls” for the dip. Then I filled the lined cork bowl with bundles of blanched asparagus and green beans, sugar snap peas, julienned green peppers, peeled and sliced cucumber and celery pieces.

It’s not easy being green,

It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things,
and people tend to pass you over ’cause your not standing out,
like flashy sparkles in the water
or stars in the sky.

but greens the color of Spring,
and green can be cool and friendly~like.
And green can be big like the ocean,
important like a mountain or tall, like a tree.

When green is all there is to be,
it can make you wonder why, but why wonder?
Why wonder? I am green and it’ll do fine,
it’s beautiful and I think it’s what I want to be.

~Kermit the Frog

I’ve always loved that song, let’s all be happy for who we are.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!