You Will Need

For the base

1 large head of cabbage

 

For the bouquet

1 bunch radishes

1 yellow bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

5 medium carrots

2 bunches green onions

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 cucumber, sliced into rounds

1 pint cherry tomatoes

5 stalks celery with tops

1 small head endive

1 bunch chicory

1 bunch asparagus spears, blanched

1 box thin Italian breadsticks

 

Special aids

bamboo skewers

1 large basket, 2 inches deep

Preparing the vegetables

1. Cut off ends of each radish. Slice halfway down on four sides to form petals. Place in bowl of ice water.
2. Core bell peppers; cut into vertical leaf-shaped slices. Make tulips from carrots (see below).
3. Cut off the bottom of the green onion stalks (about 3 inches); reserve upper portions. Make close vertical slit, from cut end down to an inch from base. Place in ice water to frill.
4. To make carrot tulips, slice toward pointed end of carrot with tip of paring knife to form a petal; do not cut through. Form two more petals around carrot. Angle knife tips to separate flower from rest of carrot. Continue cutting out more tulips from carrot.

Assembling the bouquet

1. Trim skewers to various lengths. Place leftover green onion stalks over some skewers like a sheath.
2. Insert tops of sheathed skewers into bottoms of all florets, pepper and cucumber slices, radish and carrot flowers, tomatoes, prepared green onions, celery stalks and endive and chicory leaves. Insert unsheathed skewers into asparagus spears and breadsticks.
3. Cut cabbage in half; place in bottom of basket. To form a pleasing rounded bouquet, insert ends of skewers into cabbage, balancing shapes and colors of vegetables. Place vegetables on shorter skewers along out rim of basket.

Tips

• To keep the breadsticks from getting soggy, add them to the arrangement just before serving.
• Chop and carve the vegetables up to one day in advance. Store in a bowl of ice water in the refrigerator.
• Offer these tasty vegetables with a cheesy herb dip and some crisp sesame crackers. For a main meal, serve bouquet with your favorite soup and some bread.
• If you have trouble finding some of these vegetables, use olives, yellow squash, and green peppers.

Serves 14 or more

Jen's tips

• We didn't use breadsticks in the bouquet. They don't add any color and aren't worth the potential sogginess.
• Make sure the asparagus spears are thick enough to stick the skewers into them--they should be at least the diameter of a pencil.
• What's the difference between chicory and endive anyway?
• I liked the addition of black olives for more color.
• Whole mushrooms are good too.
• We used a crinkle cutter for the cucumber slices. Nice effect. Contact your friendly Pampered Chef consultant to buy one.