Serving vegetable slices on the table, you can not only become an example of proper nutrition, but also turn an ordinary lunch or dinner into a delicious meal. The huge advantages of such dishes will be the simplicity of preparation and the absence of the need to run around the shops in search of products with difficult-to-pronounce names in order to surprise the whole family at the next meal.
Both tasty and beautiful
Vegetable slices may notice more familiar salads. First, in this form, all the ingredients will be absorbed better. Secondly, if one of the guests has an allergy, then he or she may simply not have one or several sliced vegetables. Thirdly, the taste of vegetables separately, supplemented with the right sauce, will be brighter and more saturated.
Do not forget about the aesthetic component of vegetable cuts, especially when it comes to preparing the menu for some significant event. For example, for a wedding, anniversary or birthday.
From vegetables to plates, you can make a whole thematic composition or lay out congratulations from cubes. Such a presentation will cause more interest even from those who do not really like vegetables.
You can easily make roses from tomatoes and peppers, and leaves from cucumbers.
What vegetables can be used in slicing?
To prepare this dish, you can take absolutely any ingredients. It can be either seasonal vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, radishes), or something more exotic.
Suitable for slices and carrots, cabbage, zucchini, eggplant (although they can darken in the air and spoil the general appearance of the dish), radish, radish, leek, chives and other vegetables.
If you cook a cut of boiled vegetables (if you follow a certain diet), then it is better to undercook them so that they at least retain their “strength”. To decorate such dishes, you can use small skewers or toothpicks to fix the core. With their help, you can also attach small elements to larger ones.
Vegetable slicing design options
In the process of preparing this dish, you can give complete freedom of imagination. If nothing comes to mind, except slicing cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes in rings, then a photo of vegetable slices for inspiration can be easily found on the Internet.
To decorate and serve the food on the table, use trays, large plates or multi-tiered cake boxes. They can be bought in stores with wedding accessories or in hypermarkets for home goods. Such a multi-tiered arrangement will make the vegetable plate more interesting, while it does not take up much space on the table.
Especially sophisticated culinary specialists can also cut out “plates” of large vegetables (zucchini, pumpkin), placing the remaining vegetables in the center of such a dish.
Another unusual way of serving would be to use skewers for canapes or small wooden skewers. At the same time, the design can be very different.
Vegetables are cut in a spiral, cut into strips or cubes, collected from them various flowers, baskets and many other simple but beautiful elements. You can supplement this cut with mint or oregano leaves, dill, parsley, celery or asparagus.
What to file?
The sauce will be the perfect complement to the sliced vegetables. They serve it in a bowl, a small bowl, or you can go in a more original way. For example, cut the core out of sweet bell pepper and pour the sauce into an improvised container. This vegetable is easy to replace with many others: zucchini, tomato, pumpkin, cabbage.
Various oils (olive, rice, linseed), Himalayan pink salt, spices, corn breads are also served for vegetable slices . Of the wines, white varieties are preferred, and water with or without gas, light lemonades that will not be able to interrupt the taste of vegetables are suitable.
Which sauce to choose?
For vegetable slices on the festive table, you can cook many different sauces. The simplest of them are prepared on the basis of sour cream or mayonnaise (it is better to cook it yourself).
Of the more complex sauces, “Aioli” (garlic, olive oil, lemon and yolk), walnut (sour cream, thyme, pine nuts), Greek (cucumber, garlic, white low-fat yogurt, olive oil, olives and dill) are well suited for vegetables; ), cheese and honey (sour cream, gorgonzola cheese, light honey, chives).
Ready-made sauces for slices can also be found in almost any supermarket or store. Among them, salsa, guacamole, mustard, "romesco", tomato, wine and others are most often found.
Practical tips
No matter how simple this dish may seem at first glance, for beginners in the world of cooking, it may not be easy to serve it correctly. Following a number of easy rules, it is easy to deal with this without any problems.
- Do not salt or pepper slices so that they do not give water and do not turn into just a shapeless bunch of vegetables.
- Do not serve too many vegetables at a time so that they are weathered in the air, losing their mouth-watering appearance.
- Always serve slices with sauces or dressings (you need to put them in a separate container in the center of the dish).
- Do not forget to submit napkins or towels along with slices so that guests can wipe their hands.
- It is better not to combine vegetables with bread, red wine and strong alcoholic drinks, especially since there are more suitable drinks for this dish.
- Vegetable slices are served at the very beginning of the meal, replacing the more familiar salads.
- For the preparation of slices, it is best to take fresh vegetables, as they keep their shape better and give them the desired look will be much easier.
The above tips do not require special cooking skills, but will help all beginners to cope with the task for five plus.