Appetizer's

VEGGIE CENTERPIECE

Guest Kathleen Ziegler makes vegetables look
delightful -- even to those who have an aversion
to healthy eating! Using white and cream-colored
vegetables, including mushrooms, asparagus tips,
endive and bok choy, Kathleen makes an elegant
Easter table centerpiece.

Materials:

• cauliflower
• bok choy
• scallions
• pearl onions
• wax beans
• white peppers
• white asparagus tips
• cream-colored endive
• wooden skewers
• basket
• floral foam

Preparation

1. Incise the scallions and pearl onions
   vertically and soak them overnight in ice
   water.
   


2. Cut a section of the cauliflower from the
   main head to use as base filler.
   


3. Clean the mushrooms with a soft food brush
   to remove any extraneous soil.
   


4. Prepare the white peppers by slicing off
   the tops, and removing the seeds and veins.
   Using a curving motion, make vertical cuts
   along the outer sides of the pepper.
   


5. Carefully pull the outer leaves off the
   bok choy from the main head. Remove the outer
   dark green edges from the main head, leaving
   a slight green tint to the piece. Use a pizza
   slicer to fabricate leafy structures by rolling
   the tool over the tissue-thin leaves.
   


6. Insert the wooden skewers at the bottom of
   the bok choy head.
   


7. Wash and prepare bunches of endive, taking
   care to prevent delicate leaves from tearing.
   Push a wooden skewer into the bottom of each
   bunch of endive.
   


8. Remove the tip from one end of the wax
   beans and place the bean onto a skewer.
   

Assembly

1. Place floral foam into the basket. Begin
   assembling the bouquet by arranging the
   skewers of cauliflower in a circular
   pattern in the foam. Balance the composition,
   leaving equal spaces between each piece.
   


2. Place the scallions on skewers and place
   them into the arrangement in a balanced manner.
   


3. Skewer the other vegetables and add them to
   the arrangement so that it is symmetric, saving
   the endive until last.
   


4. Place the endive strategically to fill in
   the gaps and to camouflage the wooden skewers.