Food and Health Communications is proud to be a National Strategic Partner for MyPlate. As our first community education project, we decided to work on labor-free ways to fill half of your plate for Labor Day. Of course labor-free is always a good thing, not just for Labor Day, right? If you are a health educator or teacher, please feel free to use this for any educational purpose you might have and if you are a consumer, pass it along to friends, family and colleagues. Just remember to include, “Copyright Food and Health Communications, used with permission.”
Picnic Buffet Ideas:
Here are a fruit and vegetable presentation you can serve buffet style – put them out so everyone on your guest list will want to fill half of their plates with fruits and vegetables. Use these at your next picnic, party or family dinner. See the wonderful fruit dessert at the end, too.
The Veggie Tart
This raw veggie delight can function as an appetizer or salad. It is made from a standard plastic party tray of raw vegetables from our grocery store. You know, the one that you buy to feel like you are serving something healthy but no one really eats. If you take about 5 or 10 minutes you can turn that mundane-looking plastic tray full of vegetables into something exquisite that will disappear fast!
We made a simple spinach dip using microwave-steamed spinach, the ranch dip from the party platter and a pint of low-fat or fat-free ricotta cheese. The spinach dip got spooned into the bottom of a glass tart pan. The raw vegetables were arranged standing into the dip so it looks like a fruit tart. Anyone can do it in 5-10 minutes and it is delicious and looks great. Since we love to chop, we did cheat and garnish the top with some diced sundried tomatoes but you certainly don’t need those to pull this off in a very colorful manner. The great thing about this presentation is that every vegetable is covered on the bottom with a tasty spinach dip.
Veggie Tart
Spinach dip:
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1 pint lowfat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup cooked spinach (frozen thawed or steamed fresh spinach)
Puree all ingredients together in food processor or with hand beaters. Pour spinach dip into tart pan and top with raw vegetables in a circular pattern. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Ice Bucket of Tree Fruits
There is no easier way to serve fruit than “a la naturale.” But of course the trick is getting everyone to eat it. We decided that it would more likely disappear if it was ripe, chilled on ice, and arranged in a colorful manner so the question is choice – it is not about “do you want fruit?” – rather it is about “which fruit(s) would you like?”. We simply rinsed the fruits and then arranged them in an ice bucket with crushed ice. We picked seasonal tree fruits that were ripe and these included: peaches, plums, cherries, and a new item that is a cross between an apple and pear – the yellow fruit – it was on sale in our store so we decided to give it a try.
No kitchen prep needed…
Here is MyPlate along with the link to ChooseMyPlate.gov so your guests can see how to fill half their plates with fruits and vegetables:
Here are easy ways to fill half your plate with fruits and veggies without very much labor at all. The grocery store has these items ready to go. They are great for Labor Day or every day!!
Veggie Face Salad.
Kids will love this. Why not let them make their own? You can use any combo of veggies to make a unique face.
From back to front:
Pineapple cubes, salad leaves, carrot match sticks, grape tomato cut in half, broccoli nose, baby carrot smile, microwave-baked potato cut in half and diced in the skin. The dressing? Italian spritzer and light ranch dressing. If you don’t have a spritzer you can spoon light Italian dressing or vinegar and oil. (The spritzer bottles are in the dressing section of the store and we love them because they add shine and flavor without a lot of sodium or fat.)
We tossed ready-to-serve baby romaine leaves (use any favorite ready-to-serve lettuce) with light Italian dressing and thin sliced plum tomatoes. Then we added cubed fruit salad from the grocery store. Prep time: 3 minutes, no cooking or chopping (just slice the tomato and if you are really opposed to kitchen prep then use grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes).
Grill Plate:
We chose melon on a skewer and cole slaw for a MyPlate theme that goes well with your Labor Day BBQ. The slaw and carrot match sticks were already prepared by our supermarket and we tossed them with a little Light Ranch or Light Caesar dressing. The fruit was already cubed and we just threaded it on a skewer.
Voila! It looks very appetizing because the dressing is light and the slaw is piled high and delicately on the plate. The garnishes: black sesame seeds and rough chopped flat leaf parsley. Another idea for an easy garnish is a shake of paprika.
And finally – if you do love to labor in the kitchen as this author does, here is a great summer salad that can be served on a platter either buffet style or individually.
Egg Plant Parmesan Salad
Eggplant Parmesan Salad with Shaved Fennel and Watercress
Eggplant Parmesan Salad
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 diced eggplant
3 diced tomatoes (use ripe red plum tomatoes)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or any vinegar
1 tsp Italian seasoning (basil, oregano)
Watercress
Shaved fresh fennel
Squirt of balsamic glaze
Fresh cracked black pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Saute the garlic until nutty, about 1-2 minutes. Add the eggplant and cook briefly then add the tomatoes and seasonings. Toss together then add the vinegar. Allow the eggplant salad to cool briefly or overnight covered in the refrigerator.
Toss the water cress with a little bit of olive oil and arrange on a platter. Top with eggplant parmesan salad and Parmesan cheese. Garnish with shaved fresh fennel, a squirt of balsamic vinegar glaze and black pepper.
Fruit for Dessert
Here is a wonderful fruit dessert that will add more servings of fruit with little added fat or sugar and very little labor.
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