Buffalo Crudités With Blue Cheese Dip
Doused in something spicy, crisp crudités can become habit-forming. Inspired by the Buffalo cucumber salad at Parm in New York, this recipe coats the traditional sidekicks to Buffalo chicken — celery, carrots and other raw vegetables — in the garlic-spiked hot sauce that is traditionally doused on wings. The result is finger food at its finest: crunchy, flavor-packed and begging for beer (and blue cheese). Buffalo chicken wings might be written off as a bar fixture, but they’re a great example of contrasts: hot and cold, spicy and cooling, crisp and juicy. Like kimchi or chile-flecked melon, these crudités accentuate the play between spicy and fresh.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 3ounces blue cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
- ¼cup mayonnaise
- ¼cup sour cream
- 1tablespoon fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1to 3 tablespoons milk or buttermilk, or to taste
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ½cup Louisiana-style hot sauce, such as Frank’s
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1large garlic clove, grated
- 4cups raw chopped vegetables, such as a mix of celery, carrots, cucumbers, radishes and snap peas
Instructions
Step 1
Make the dip: In a small bowl, stir together the blue cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice. Thin with milk until spoonable. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside. (Dip keeps for up to 4 days in the refrigerator; thin as needed with more milk.)Step 2
Just before serving, prepare the crudités: In a large bowl, stir together the hot sauce, olive oil and garlic until combined. Toss with vegetables until evenly coated. Serve with the dip.