Holiday Vegetable Wreath

Every party needs a platter or two of finger foods for everyone to munch on. No matter what type of party you’re hosting, it most certainly needs a Holiday Vegetable Wreath platter. This gorgeous wreath is prepared using fresh broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, and more! Serve with your favourite vegetable dip!

I may have mentioned it a time or two here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen. One of our favourite meals is what is most commonly called crudité. We chop up fresh veggies and plate them up with our favourite dip or hummus. Served alongside are two or three cheeses, crackers, crostini, etc. So, in our home, a Holiday Vegetable Wreath makes complete sense, because we all love a nice veggie platter!

In the cooler months, I put everything out on the counter and we pile up our plates and eat dinner on the couch while watching whatever it is we might be into at the moment. In the summer months, we sit outside on our back deck. Sometimes we have a glass of Diet Coke with a lime wedge, and sometimes, I make us all a cocktail.

I have a herb garden which allows me to pick fresh herbs all summer long. Knowing full well that I wanted to use some of my fresh herbs like sage and thyme to help me create the wreath look, had me photographing this particular recipe in early August. Luckily, fresh herbs are available anytime in most large chain grocery stores, so you can easily recreate the same look in December!

My Holiday Vegetable Wreath is the eleventh in my 12 Edible Wreaths of Christmas Series. If you have not done so already, please join me for 12 consecutive days – yes, even Saturday and Sunday! – while I share one new edible wreath with you every day. If you cannot wait until tomorrow, you can always check out a series from Christmases past. Find the links for each series below. So, let’s just get into it!

EDIBLE WREATHS ARE THE CHARCUTERIE OF CHRISTMAS!

Charcuterie boards are everywhere these days, and it seems that there’s a theme for just about everything. With that in mind, why not create wreath-shaped charcuterie boards for Christmastime!? I started out with a few varieties in mind, but the more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea and before long, I had a list of twenty themes. Narrowing it down to 12 was hard, but I managed to put some of the themes aside until next year!

With an abundance of cherry tomatoes from our vegetable garden and a gorgeous pot of fresh basil growing on our backyard deck this summer, I put together this Holiday Vegetable Wreath quite quickly and easily. Everything you see in the wreath is available at most larger chain stores, which means all you have to do is assemble it. Christmastime is busy enough as it is! Putting out a nice spread for friends and family shouldn’t add to your holiday stress!

Most charcuterie boards will include thinly sliced meats and cheese too. And, you can certainly add those things to your wreath if you’re putting it out before dinner as an appetizer. But, in this case, I’m keeping these wreaths simple and very on theme.

WHAT IS CHARCUTERIE ANYWAY?

Charcuterie is a French term meaning “flesh” and “cooked.” It is a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, pate, etc. Originally intended as a way to preserve meat before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for the flavours derived from the preservation processes.

Today, when we hear the term charcuterie, most of us immediately know that we are referring to the preparation and artful assembling of arranging items like cured meats, hard and soft cheeses, dried and fresh fruits, vegetables, and crackers or bread on a large wooden board.

Charcuterie has been popular in many parts of Europe for many, many years. In fact, there’s documented evidence of charcuterie being present in ancient Roman times. The popularity of these boards did not catch on here in North America until recently. Now, they’re everywhere! And, I’m going to show you how to make wreath-shaped charcuterie boards specifically for Christmas!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE:

The following is a list of the items needed to prepare a Holiday Vegetable Wreath. Please keep in mind that the amount of each ingredient needed will greatly depend on how many people you are serving. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Broccoli – Broccoli makes up the bulk of the wreath, so in my case, I used two whole bunches.
• Cauliflower – I added a few pieces of cauliflower to break up the green, add colour contrast, and of course more variety. I like to think that the cauliflower acts as the snow on the wreath.
• Tomatoes – Cherry or grape tomatoes will work quite nicely. They look like little ornaments on the wreath. I choose to use both red and orange tomatoes.
• Cucumbers – I sliced about half a large cucumber. Some of the slices I left whole and placed them on the wreath. Some of the slices were laid flat on a cutting board and I used a small star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out little star shapes.
• Yellow Bell Pepper – Slice big pieces off the pepper. Lay it flat on a cutting board and use a star-shaped cooking cutter to cut out large yellow stars. They were used to decorate the wreath. Making food visually appealing is very important!
• Dip  – Start with a bowl of your favourite dip. Ours just happens to be white, so it worked perfectly. In case you’re curious, our favourite store-bought dip is the PC Brand Asiago and Artichoke.
• Fresh Thyme and Sage

HOW TO ASSEMBLE A HOLIDAY VEGETABLE WREATH

CHOOSING A BOARD

The first thing you want to do is to source a board. The number of people you are serving and the number of items you have to place on the board will help to determine the size you will need. You can use a cutting board, a charcuterie board, or even a large marble slab. Any of those types of boards can be found at any home decor store, like Marshalls or Winners.

POSITIONING THE FOOD

Since broccoli makes up the bulk of the board and provides all of the green wreath colours, it is best if you start with that first. Before you begin to pile the veggies on the board, place the bowl you’ll be using for the dip right in the middle. You don’t need to fill it with dip just yet. Use the empty bowl as the center of the wreath and build around it.

Again, working with the broccoli first, build around the bowl, creating what you might call the template of the wreath. Not every space or gap needs to be filled in with broccoli. Just be sure to place each piece of broccoli meticulously down so that the best side is up. Sometimes, broccoli can have lighter green or yellow sections. Just hide those by pointing them downward, if possible, if at all possible.

Next, go around the board with the cauliflower florets. Fill in some of the gaps if there are any. If there are no gaps, you can start to build onto the broccoli to create height. I used one small head of cauliflower so I wasn’t worried about covering up too much of the green.

Finally, add in a few pops of colour with orange and red cherry or grape tomatoes. Tuck in the sliced cucumbers and dot the top of the wreath with the cucumber stars. Lay on the larger yellow bell pepper stars next. Lastly, tuck in your sage leaves and sprigs of fresh thyme. As a finishing touch, I added a festive red gingham bow to one side. It looks gorgeous and takes very little time or skill, doesn’t it!?

MAKE IT AHEAD OF TIME

You can make this Holiday Vegetable Wreath earlier on the day you are serving it, however, I would not make it a day or two in advance. As you know, cucumbers break down very quickly after they are sliced. If you do make it ahead of time, I would not recommend any longer than 8-12 hours. Cover the board well and keep it refrigerated until about 20 minutes before serving.

If you need to make this wreath further in advance, you can, but don’t assemble it. Wash and chop the broccoli and cauliflower. Wash and pat dry the tomatoes. Package everything up in food-safe containers individually. It will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days depending on the freshness of the vegetables when you purchased them. When ready to assemble, take everything out of the fridge and layer it as described in the section above.