Vegetable platter "Witch" for Halloween

Ingredients:

Sauce with herbs

• 3 cups loosely packed baby spinach
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh dill leaves
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• 110 g of cream cheese at room temperature
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable Witch

• Table salt
• 1 bunch thin asparagus, tough stems trimmed
• 110 g green beans, ends removed
• 1 head of broccoli, divided into florets
• 2 thin half-moon slices of radish
• 2 thin slices of cherry tomato
• 2 very small spinach leaves
• 1 purple carrot, peeled
• A handful of greens or arugula
• 3 smooth-skinned cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 thin ring of sweet pepper
• Additionally: Baby rainbow carrots, celery sticks, cauliflower florets, or your favorite dipping vegetables

Preparation:

1. Sour cream sauce with cream cheese and herbs: The sauce is served with fresh vegetables or crackers, you can add a clove of garlic.
   You can make the sauce up to 1 day in advance and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to serve..
   
   Combine spinach, parsley, green onions, dill, lemon juice, and olive oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Add sour cream, cream cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, and season generously with pepper. Process until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate. Yield: 480 g.
2. Vegetable WitchBring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare a bowl of ice.
   
   Add the asparagus to boiling water and cook until bright green, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice to cool immediately. Remove with a slotted spoon and pat dry. This will be the witch's hat. Add the green beans to boiling water and cook until bright green, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice to cool immediately. Remove with a slotted spoon and pat dry. This will be the witch's hair.
3. Place the vegetable appetizer on the board: Place a large cutting board or platter on the countertop with the short side facing you.
   
   Arrange the broccoli florets in an inverted triangle on the bottom half of a cutting board to form the witch's face. Add radish rounds for the eyes and top with cherry tomato slices for the eyeballs. Add a spinach leaf just above each eye (eyebrows). Cut a 2-inch piece from the pointy end of a carrot for the nose, then cut a thin slice diagonally from the remaining carrot to form the mouth, and arrange both pieces on the face.
4. Place green beans, pointy side down, on each side of the face. Arrange the longest spears of asparagus in a triangle at the top of the face to create a pointed hat. Trim the remaining stems and place them in the upper left corner of the hat to create a curved tip.
5. Arrange greens or arugula across the top of the face to create bangs. Arrange cucumber slices horizontally on top to create the brim of the hat. Cut a thin carrot slice lengthwise and trim it to create a hatband. Place a small ring of bell pepper in the center to create a buckle.
6. Fill the board with fresh vegetable sticks: A vegetable platter, simply and neatly presented, will be the star of the party.
   Set the board before guests are seated..
   
   Arrange the vegetables in piles by color, filling the empty spaces—new carrots, celery, and cauliflower around the cauliflower. Serve the vegetable appetizer with dipping sauce.