Vegetable Fruit Platter Recipes

Steps:

• Make it fun. Mix in a variety of colors, flavors, and textures, and consider your budget as you go along.
• On a budget? Veggies such as carrots, celery, and cucumbers are crowd-pleasers and easy on the wallet, while peppers, tomatoes, and jicama are fun for more adventurous eaters or when you want to go all out.
• Easy to eat. The most important thing is to select finger-food-friendly vegetables that are easy to eat.

Steps:

• I like to begin the platter with a base of ripe, colorful, sliced melons and pineapple--for example, cantaloupe, honeydew, Galia, or Cavaillon melons, plus the new "golden" pineapples. Peel the outside of a whole melon, cut it in half through the stem end, and scoop out the seeds. Place the melon halves cut side down on a board, and slice them straight across into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Fan each half-melon out slightly and arrange it on the platter. Next, cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple, peel the outside, and use a sharp knife to remove the "eyes." Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise and remove the core by cutting a "V" down the center of each half. Again, place the pineapple halves, cut side down, on a board and slice them straight across into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Fan the slices out and arrange them next to the melon on the platter.
• Once the base is set, you can add any kind of fruit that's available. I like to have one thing that is taller than the rest, such as a large bunch of grapes or a decoratively cut papaya, to give the platter height. Then I add raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and fresh figs in casual but organized groups. The platter can look like a bowl of M&M's if there are too many colors scattered with no order. Visually, your eye needs to have a focal point and to be able to see each type of fruit. After all the fruit is arranged, I add flat green leaves around the outside of the fruit, to set off the colors. Use lemon and galax leaves from your florist, or fig leaves and grape leaves from your garden. Make sure they are pesticide-free and well washed.
• Any kind of fruit will work well on this platter. For special occasions, add persimmons, kiwi, passion fruit, Queen Anne cherries, fresh apricots, and mangos. Choose whatever is colorful and seasonal.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Peel a strip of zest from the lemon and finely chop it. Rub the pepper and courgette with a small drizzle of olive oil, then arrange in a single layer on a baking tray (the pepper should be skin-side down). Scatter the the chopped lemon zest over the pepper, then roast for 30 mins, turning the courgettes over halfway through.
• Meanwhile, tip the butter beans into a bowl with 2 tbsp of the liquid from the can. Squeeze over the juice of the lemon that you pared the zest from, then add the tahini, 1 tbsp oil and the garlic, and blitz with a hand blender until smooth, adding more liquid from the can if it's too thick. Taste and add a little salt, if needed.
• Spoon the mixture onto plates, then top with the beetroot, dill and onion, then the courgettes. Drizzle over the yogurt, then sprinkle with paprika. Scatter over the peppers, olives and mint, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, if you like.