Assembling a Vegetable Platter

You will need a round serving tray or a specially designed veggie tray that has divided cavities for placing your vegetables in. If your tray doesn't come with a vegetable dip container, you will need to supply one.

It is recommended that you choose 5-7 vegetables to present on your party tray.

Preparation:

Wash and pat dry all of your vegetables. Cut off any roots, stems or unwanted leafy portions.

Vegetable Selection:

Leafy Lettuce: Separate the lettuce leaves and use them to line your vegetable tray.

Green Broccoli / purple broccoli : Cut florets off the stalk into individual serving-sized pieces.

Cauliflower: Cut pieces from head of cauliflower into individual serving-sized florets .

Cherry Tomatoes: Remove stems. Wash and pat dry.

Cucumbers: You can remove the skin or leave it, that is entirely up to you. Slice cucumber into 1/4" thick round slices.

Carrots: If using baby carrots, you will will not need to slice them down. If using full-sized carrots, you will need to slice them down into sticks measuring approximately 1/4" by 4" in size.

Celery: Cut off leafy portions. Cut celery stalks into 4" long pieces.

Radishes: Cut off top portion of radishes and any roots that might remain. It is best to use radishes that are less than 1 1/2" in diameter.

Mushrooms: If you are using baby mushrooms, leave just a 1/4" of the stem remaining. If using larger sized mushrooms, slice them down into individual pieces.

Green Pepper: Remove the stem and seeds. Cut down into sticks measuring 1/4" by 4" in length.

Asparagus (I prefer them blanched) : remove ends and chop into 4" lengths.

Assembly:

Arrange the lettuce leaves on your tray, covering the entire bottom of the tray. Take your prepared vegetables and arrange them around the tray in sections. Try to keep your colors separated and spread out the green colored vegetables. I like to use a green vegetable, then a colored vegetable and then another green vegetable and so forth as I go around my tray. This looks attractive and colourful. Leave an opening in the center of your tray for your vegetable dip.

Garnish Ideas (optional) :

If you are using a flat serving tray, you can separate your vegetable sections by laying a celery stick or carrot stick between each section. I like to add some additional color by garnishing with green and black olives, purple cabbage curls, radish shaped flowers or even a few green and red grapes.

Dip :
Dip holder is placed in the centre of the veges for easy of eating and aesthetics.