A crudité platter is almost always on my menu-plan for gatherings, big or small, because it’s a wonderful way to add tons of color and flavor to a table. It’s also a delicious and easy way to incorporate the bounty of New England’s seasonal vegetables available locally in the spring and summer! I like to give those beautiful seasonal ingredients an accompaniment that lives up to their fresh, crisp flavor; a homemade dip is the perfect balance for the crudité. This cottage cheese dip, using Hood’s new flavor Cottage Cheese with Cracked Pepper, is simple to assemble and tastes best after the flavors combine for a bit in the refrigerator.
My go-to cottage cheese is always Hood because of its rich and creamy texture and the variety of both sweet and savory options. We eat with our eyes first, so I like to make sure my dip and crudité board is styled beautifully. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for creating a beautiful presentation of this dish. To start, plan your crudité display on a large tray or board, and start with your dips as the focal point. I love to hollow out a bright purple radicchio head to serve the dip in for a really organic centerpiece of the presentation.
Next, think bite size pieces — prepare your veggies with snacking in mind. Make it easy for your guests with bite-size pieces of vegetables. Arrange them with alternating colors and textures — play with how each ingredient looks next to one another. Space out the green tones of peppers and broccoli by alternating them with the bright warm tones of tomatoes, and crisp radish slices. Consider the varied nature of textures and shapes, too, alternating round radishes and tomatoes with longer, thinner celery and carrot sticks. All that’s left to do is get snacking, and dig into this delicious Hood Cottage Cheese dip; full recipe below: 
- 1 Cup of Hood Cracked Pepper Cottage Cheese
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
- Salt, to taste
- In a bowl, whisk together Hood Cracked Pepper Cottage Cheese, Dijon mustard, and minced garlic.
- Fold in minced chives, dill, parsley, and basil; season with a dash of salt.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve cold with vegetables or chips for dipping.
This post was created in partnership with Hood Cottage Cheese. All opinions, images, and content are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support this site!
