Basic Vegetables and Herbs

The aromatic celery stick became a classic because of its crunch, although many using people using a Bloody Mary medicinally for a hangover have been known to complain that the noise of chewing it sounds like a jackhammer inside their heads. But celery is hardly the only option.

Raw and Ready to Go

Choose from any of these foods and just prep them into the proper size pieces.

Baby bok choy: Leave the pretty green leaves on and use a whole rib.

Bell peppers: Red, green, yellow, orange, and purple can all be used. Cut them into strips to stick them into the drink, or use a wider section to stabilize garnishes resting on top of it.

Carrots: They now come in more colors than orange. Look for yellow or purple “rainbow carrots” at your market. Cut them into long sticks.

Cherry tomatoes: Alternate different colors on a skewer.

Cucumbers: Buy English ones because they don’t need peeling, and cut them into long sticks.

Endive: Tuck the spears into the glass so the pretty pointed end is up.

Fennel: Here’s a use for the stalks that usually go to waste because you trim them off the bulb. Use stalks that have the feathery green fronds still attached.

Herb sprigs: Fresh rosemary and sage are prime candidates because they have woody stems, and sprigs of fresh basil, parsley, and cilantro can be used if long enough. Chives are an especially nice choice in the spring when they have delicate purple flowers attached. Avoid sprigs of fresh thyme and marjoram because the stems are puny and won’t sit up in the glass.

Romaine lettuce: Use the small leaves from the hearts of the heads.

The Cooked Collection

I know that no one will die from eating a raw string bean or Brussels sprout, but they’d be much happier to eat these foods blanched so they are crisp-tender.

When blanching green vegetables, always have a bowl of ice water handy. Remove the vegetables from the boiling water with tongs, shaking them a bit to get as much water off as possible, and then plunge them into the ice water to stop the cooking.

How long to blanch the vegetables is a personal decision. I like my vegetables more tender than crisp, so I would leave them in the bubbling water for longer than those of you who want them basically raw but with a more pleasing color.

Here’s a list of vegetables to be blanched.

Asparagus spears

Broccoli florets on a skewer

Broccoli rabe ribs

Brussels sprouts

Cauliflower florets on a skewer

Green beans or yellow wax beans

Snow peas

Sugar snap peas

Pickled Vegetables

It’s almost destiny for fermented and cured vegetables to end up on toothpicks and skewers sitting on top of a Bloody Mary. Any sort of pickle spear can be thrust into the glass, and small items can be joined together into an assemblage.

Here’s a list of options.

• Artichoke hearts, cut into wedges

• Beets, cut into cubes or left whole if tiny

• Cherry peppers, plain or with a cube of cheese as a stuffing

• Cocktail onions

• Cornichons

• Giardiniera vegetables

• Okra

• Olives, any and all as long as they’re pitted

• Pepperoncini