Jalapeño Green Goddess

When some of your favorite women entrepreneurs and style mavens invite you to a garden party, the response is YES! The second response is, “What can I bring?”

What to serve at a garden party? Crudité all day! I decided to find as many seasonal, beautiful vegetables as possible and fill up boards and platters with healthy nibbles. Romesco and green goddess (recipe at the bottom of this post) add flavorful dips for veggies and a pop of vibrant color.

To dress up the platters, I added a sprinkling of fresh green peas, mint flowers from my garden, chive flowers sprouting from pots of herbs, fresh sprigs of lavender (purchased at Trader Joe’s) and whole heirloom tomatoes.  If you don’t have edible flowers growing at home, purchase fresh rosemary or mint to garnish your crudité board. Add texture with whole nuts, cut citrus and berries. Don’t feel bad about purchasing a few add-ons (cakes and macaroons in this instance!).

A few tips:

1. Layer kale or collard green leaves on the base of the platter.
2. Eat the rainbow. Try to include vegetables of various colors and textures.
3. Add flowers and herbs for garnish.
4. Don’t forget something sweet: Berries, figs, grapes, pomegranate seedsand candied citrus.
5. Whole vegetables and fruits add an interesting element: Use heirloom tomatoes, halved blood oranges, and bright red radishes.

I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by smart, talented, utterly competent women who want to lift each other up. It’s not so much a “leaning is” as it is full throttle pushing forward. I’m still in the infancy stages of growing my business and making this a profitable past time. When I have questions about bookkeeping, Pinterest analytics, SEO (search engine optimization), Instagram analytics, and all those other nitty gritty details of blogging, these are some of the women I turn to. There are many more who aren’t in these photos (you know who you are).

I know other cities are full of creative and accomplished women who collaborate and brainstorm, but I don’t think there’s anything quite like the community in Houston. For lack of a better word, it just feels kind.

Creating something beautiful is the first love for all of these collaboratives. Interior design for Marie Flanigan of Marie Flanigan Interiors, fashion and lifestyle for Caroline Harper Knapp of House of Harper, easy entert

aining for Lindsey Rose King of Mostess Box, floral design for Maria Maxit of Maxit Flower Design and gorgeous caligraphy for Meg Grant of Meg Grant & Co..

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Jalapeño Green Goddess

Author Marcia W. Smart

Serve this tangy dressing as a dip for raw crudité, grilled vegetables or grilled steak or salmon. To make this Whole30 compliant, substitute the buttermilk and Greek yogurt with 1 cup Whole30 approved mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups chopped cilantro
• 1 ½ cups chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 3 tablespoons chives, minced
• 3 tablespoons mint, minced
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 avocado
• 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño (or less or more to taste)
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1-2 limes, juiced
• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
• ½ cup buttermilk
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and purée.
2. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

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