If you’re going to kick back this weekend with friends and some lovely libations, or have a group over for brunch, you may need a snack idea.

Here it is: DIY Crostini.

The crunchy little toasts are great with wine or beer, and a fun food when people add their own toppings.

Set out all kinds of sweet and savory toast toppings and let your guests help themselves. We’ve got flavor combo ideas galore, but let your imagination run wild.

You decide how many options you want to offer. Here’s are some options, plus a recipe for White Bean Dip & Spread below.
 
 
RECIPE #1: DIY CROSTINI

SPREADS

Guests start by choosing a spread for the crostini:

 
TOPPINGS

Offer as many or as few as you like:

 
 
RECIPE #2: WHITE BEAN SPREAD

Ingredients

 
Preparation

[1] Crostini topped with white bean spread and a selection of garnishes (photo © DeLallo Foods).

[2] Crostini with ricotta topping. Here’s the recipe from topping ideas from Honestly Yum (photo © Honestly Yum),

[3] Crostini with hummus and pimento and basil (photo © Gaea Olive Oil).

2. MAKE the crostini. Heat the oven to 400°F. Slice the bread and drizzle with olive oil on both sides. Bake for 10 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.

[1] Green goddess: a crudité plate of green lettuces (photo © Empellon | NYC

[2] California-grown Castelfranco chicory (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Variegated radicchio, radicchio variegato di castelfranco IGP. IGP is an acronym for indicazione geografica protetta, meaning it can only be grown in a specified region—In this case, the Castelfranco Veneto region of Italy. It is the terroir* of this region that produces the ivory color (photo © Lavanda Peperina).

[4] Treviso radicchio. It is easy to confuse this radicchio with red endive, which looks similar but is a hybrid of Belgian endive and Treviso radicchio (photo © Good Eggs).

In the U.S., for decades upon decades, ladies setting a fine table began dinner with a crystal, porcelain or silver “relish tray.”

This typically consisted of raw carrots, celery sticks and radishes, plus gherkins and olives. No dip, just veggies.

The relish tray, often made with sections to separate the items, was meant as a quick bite until the first course arrived.

It was an Americanization of the French dish called crudités, which could comprise raw vegetables of every description, artfully cut and arranged on a platter.

There was no creamy dip, as many Americans serve today, but a vinaigrette with minced fresh herbs.

In the U.S., the concept has evolved to include much of which is in the produce department.Many of us even call our raw vegetable plate crudités (CROO-dih-tay).

In our home, where “more is more,” this meant quite the spread:

Bell pepper strips, broccoli and cauliflower florets, carrots and celery (of course!), cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, endive, green beans, mushrooms, radishes, scallions, snow peas or sugar snap peas, zucchini and/or yellow summer squash.

In essence: it meant (and still means) anything that tastes good raw and can easily be picked up and dipped.

We’re happy to have leftovers for the next day. If you have too many, steam some of them.

Here’s more about the history of crudités in America.
 
 
A NEW IDEA FOR CRUDITÉS

Recently, we came across this photo (photo #1) from Empellón restaurant in New York City:

An assemblage of beautiful lettuces, including radicchio and chicory, served crudites-style with a dip.

Note that in addition to categories we think of as lettuce—bibb lettuce, Boston lettuce, iceberg lettuce, leaf lettuce and romaine—these are also fall in the lettuce category:

 
While watercress is a leafy vegetable, it is in a different family, genus and species from lettuce.

 
 
NEXT STEP

While the farmers markets still have a beautiful assortment of lettuces, serve it with whatever dip you like—from a light Dijon vinaigrette to chunky blue cheese (recipe below).

In addition to the familiar, try the unusual. Whatever you pick should be firm enough to dip.

This dressing is good enough to eat by the spoonful. Try it on different styles of potatoes, too.

The better the blue cheese, the more delicious the dip.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BLEND the milk and distilled white vinegar in a medium bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then stir. [This creates buttermilk—a good tip for when you have a recipe that requires a small amount. To make a cup of buttermilk, add a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar (not white wine vinegar) to a one-cup measure. Fill to the rim with milk and let stand five minutes.]

2. ADD the blue cheese to the buttermilk, and mash with a fork until the mixture is combined.

3. ADD the sour cream, mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Mix with fork to combine.

4. PLACE into a container with a tight seal. Refrigerate and let set for at least 4 hour; preferably overnight.

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*Pronounced tuhr-WAH, terroir is the French expression for sense of place, the unique environment in which something grows—its specific soil composition and microclimate. Microclimate includes temperature, amount of sunshine and rain. The flavor nuances of agricultural products, from grapes to olives to milk to cacao, is a function of its terroir.

†There are numerous varieties of every green, including radicchio (rah-DEE-key-yo) and chicory. Many of them have common ancestors, and can look similar. With radicchio, an Italian leaf chicory, there are different varieties, each named after the region in Italy where it is grown. The most common variety in the U.S. is radicchio di Chioggia (pronounced key-YO-guh), a round, tightly-packed head of dark maroon leaves with thick white veins.

Today’s tip showcases luscious summer heirloom tomatoes in two salads.

Both are European-inspired, both are made without lettuce or other leafy greens.
 
 
RECIPE #1: RUSSIAN TOMATO & CUCUMBER SALAD

Our Russian grandmother used a lot of sour cream, dill and scallions: as salad dressing, in borscht, on boiled potatoes and as a general garnish.

We grew up loving it, and since then have regularly treated ourselves to the garnish in borscht, boiled potatoes and beet salad or side.

We made the easy transition to a garnish for baked potatoes and other foods, including fried chicken.

We even had it on toast and bagels: a worthy stand-in for cream cheese.

But we hadn’t thought about that salad dressing for quite some time.

Truth to tell, as one of our annual “eat better” New Year’s resolutions, we gave up sour cream in favor of fat-free Greek yogurt at least 10 years ago.

We simply didn’t connect that we could make the salad dressing with yogurt.

Recently, we came across this salad recipe from Vikalinka (photo #1).

Easy to make yet bursting with layers of flavor, it combines tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions, fresh dill and sour cream or crème fraîche.

It’s so refreshing: tender tomatoes, crunchy cukes, crunchy and sharp scallions and a creamy dressing with sprightly dill. We love it!

If these ingredients sound good to you, make it tonight. Note that once dressed, the salad doesn’t keep well; so don’t make more than you’re ready to eat.

Again, here’s the recipe.
 
 
RECIPE #2: MEDITERRANEAN TOMATO & FIG SALAD

This salad has a Mediterranean flair.

Wild figs originated in the Mediterranean* region, from Afghanistan to Portugal.

Figs are believed to be the first cultivated fruit. Remains have been found in the ruins of a prehistoric village near Jericho, in the West Bank, grown some 11,400 years ago [source].

Each Mediterranean country has its own seasonings and favorite ingredients.

Think figs and cheese or yogurt for breakfast, fig and olive stew for dinner, and a dessert of fig cake, or a simple plate of plump fresh figs.

This tomato salad (photo #2), from Empellón restaurant in New York City, combines fresh figs and cheese with heirloom tomatoes.

While the upscale Mexican restaurant uses queso fresco as the cheese, you can substitute feta, goat cheese, ricotta or other favorite. Even blue cheese works.

Use small heirloom tomatoes or heirloom cherry tomatoes (photo #3). Cut them in slices or wedges, cut the figs in wedges.

Dress the salad with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, with an optional drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

You can garnish the salad with pine nuts or chopped pistachios.

And don’t forget sea salt and the peppermill.

[1] A Russian-style tomato salad with a sour cream dressing (photo © Viklinka).

[2] A Mediterranean tomato salad with figs (photo © Empellón Restaurant | NYC.

[3] Summer’s bounty includes luscious heirloom tomatoes in regular and cherry sizes.

But just in case.

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*Different fig genuses originated in Asia.