Originally posted on December 7, 2017
Having a big holiday party this year? Don’t you dare buy one of those prepackaged veggie trays that are overpriced and well, let’s face it, a little boring. Not when you can get super creative and make a Santa veggie tray instead! This is one that I did for a family gathering and it got lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as people gathered around wanting to take a picture of it before pieces started going missing. Little did I know then that there are tons of holiday-inspired veggie tray ideas out there. I’m hoping to do a Christmas tree one next for you guys! They’re so dead simple, and really spruce up the food table at any holiday bash.
Ingredients:
- 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
- 2 olives, whole or slices
Instructions:
1.) Place the cucumbers in the middle of a large serving platter. These will be Santa’s face.
2.) Arrange the red pepper into a triangle on top of the cucumbers. You want to make it look like a hat. Leave out one thin strip of the red pepper.
3.) Arrange most of the cauliflower florets below the cucumbers to form Santa’s beard. Then place some just above the cucumbers to make up the trim of Santa’s hat.
4.) Fill in the bottom of the platter, below the cauliflower, with cherry tomatoes to look like Santa’s suit.
5.) For the pom-pom on Santa’s hat, you have a couple of options. You can fill a small ramekin with Ranch dressing and place it at the top of the red pepper triangle; this is what most people do. Or, if you’re like me and the only ramekin you had was far too big, you can place a large piece (or a couple of small pieces) of cauliflower there instead.
6.) Place the small reserved piece of bell pepper in the middle of Santa’s beard to form his mouth and place the olives at the top of the cucumbers to make his eyes.