Cut vegetables are easy finger food.
Vegetable platters make a healthy addition to a dinner party, an easy option for a potluck and a portable choice for a picnic. Vegetable platters serve as versatile snack food or a buffet side dish that are ideal for events and parties feeding large groups. You can opt for a fresh vegetable platter or a roasted vegetable platter, but both types of platters are even better accompanied by a selection of dips and sauces.
Instructions
Fresh Vegetable Platter
1. Choose a large plate or serving tray as the base for your platter.
2. Choose a variety of fresh vegetables, such as carrots, bell peppers, cauliflower, zucchini, radish, cucumber, broccoli and snow peas. Opt for bite-size veggie versions when you can, like cherry tomatoes and baby carrots.
3. Choose varied types of dip for your platter. Consider ranch salad dressing, hummus, sour cream mixed with chopped fresh dill, garlic mayonnaise, Mexican salsa and guacamole.
4. Thoroughly wash all the vegetables with cold water. Remove the top sections from the zucchini, bell pepper, radish and cucumber. Remove the leaves and stems of the cauliflower and broccoli. Chop the vegetables into uniform sticks or slices.
5. Place the vegetables on the plate or serving tray, grouping the same vegetables together for easy self-serving.
6. Pour the dips into shallow cups. Place them on the plate or tray with the vegetables. Serve.
Roasted Vegetable Platter
7. Choose a large plate or serving tray as the base for your platter. Choose a variety of vegetables ideal for roasting, such as bell pepper, eggplant, mushroom, squash, potato, onion, turnip and carrot. Choose different types of dip for your platter. Choose from garlic mayonnaise, hummus, cheese fondue and Mediterranean olive dip. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
8. Thoroughly wash all the vegetables with cold water. Remove the top sections from the bell pepper, eggplant, squash, turnip and carrot. Remove the outside skins of the onion as well. Dice into uniform large pieces.
9. Place the vegetables on baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper. Using a pastry brush, brush the vegetables with extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle salt to taste. Place the baking sheets in the oven and roast at 450 degrees until the vegetables do not provide resistance when pierced with a fork. Remove them from the baking sheets with a spatula and put them onto plate or other surface to cool.
10. Transfer the vegetables onto the plate or serving tray.
11. Pour the dips into shallow cups. Place them on the plate or tray with the vegetables. Serve.
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