Rainbow Fruit and Veggie Platter

Preperation time
30 m
Skills level

Serving size
8
Country of origin

Preparation time: 30 m
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 1 large 20 by 20 wood board
  • a bag of Mandarin oranges on a vine
  • 1 pint strawberries, some cut in half
  • Babybel cheese in a red wrapping
  • 1 block aged cheddar cheese
  • 1 package of herbed srpeadable cheese, I like Alouette
  • 3 gala apples, cut into wedges
  • 1 small bag celery
  • 1 small bag carrots
  • 1 box crackers, rectangular
  • 1 box crackers, round
  • 1 block Swiss, cut into chunks or place a tiny knife close by
  • 1 bag red grapes
  • raspberry or fig jam in a clear glass jar
  • 1 package pepperoni
Recipe Type:
Course:

This Rainbow Fruit and Veggie Platter is inspired by the beautiful Christie Brinkley who recently turned 65 years old! She is a true testament of ageless beauty and healthful eating habits. She is just as beautiful on the inside with her humanitarian efforts, and support of many good will organizations like Smile Train. She eats in a rainbow of colors like you see in this gorgeous photo, with the exception of the meat of course as she is a strict vegetarian. Choosing organic fruits and veggies is a good healthy habit so that you avoid unnecessary pesticides. Something she makes a priority especially with her line of Bellissima Prosecco.- A line I have had the pleasure of working with to develop some wonderful drink combos. It is organic and vegan!

Here are some helpful hints on arranging the most beautiful, eye-catching fruit and veggie platter. Let’s get started! First, pick out 4 cheeses to pair with the fruit and veggies. Any type of cheese is fine. You want to highlight the fruit, so small amounts of cheese is the way to go with this platter. It is as simple as just getting what you love to eat!

It’s a nice idea to offer a few hard cheeses and at least one soft cheese.  Trader Joe’s has some great cheeses and their prices are very good. Shop around to find some interesting cheeses that you think your guests will enjoy. I chose Swiss, aged cheddar, a soft herbed spreadable cheese and the tiny Babybel Cheese which I turned upside down.

Next, pick out your fruit. I really like vibrant colors as you can see, so I chose grapes, apples, strawberries, and Mandarins (if you can find them on a vine that is even better!). The list of options is endless. You can add pomegranates cut in half, melon, pineapple, kiwis, large oranges cut in slices, raspberries, blackberries. You get the idea. Buy what you will eat, and what is in season, ripe, fresh, and of course colorful!

Then choose your veggies: one or two would round out this mostly fruit platter. In this case, I chose celery as I think it pairs well with the fruit as would carrots.  You can even do broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, or sugar snap peas. Although I don’t have hummus on my platter, I do often pair my homemade hummus with veggies. The recipe for homemade hummus is in my cookbook. Here is a photo for you from a another Rainbow Fruit and Veggie Platter I created recently. My cookbook is available on Amazon worldwide.

 

Next, pick a few different types of crackers: different textures, shapes and flavors. I have a round fig cracker, and a salty rectangular cracker. I also placed some pepperoni on the platter for the meat lovers as well as some jams for making cracker, cheese and pepperoni sandwiches which my kids and husband love to do!

Now, for the fun part, to assemble the platter! Place your cheese first and a tiny knife for cutting each different cheese. Then place the crackers close by the cheese. Next, place the fruit, just be sure it is dry! I had a lot of grapes and oranges so I placed them on the sides of the platter for symmetry. I then placed a few oranges on the vine randomly to add color and a seamless look. Next, add whatever other fruit you’d like in this case, I added strawberries, some cut in half because the inside is so pretty. Leave on the stem for that earthy vibe! Apples can be cut too or left whole, just place a tiny knife for cutting if you don’t cut them into pieces. Add 1-2 jams. I love fig and raspberry jam.

Here’s one more photo for inspiration. The key to this Rainbow Fruit and Veggie platter is use Fruits and Veggies with vibrant colors, and have fun combining the colors. Then sit back, take a photo and show me what you’ve created, and most importantly enjoy your party or gathering. Enjoy! #eatincolor