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A Fresh Approach to Eating

Make Your Own Veggie Plate

Are you ready to make yourself a delicious and easy veggie plate? Let’s get started!

We all know that vegetables are good for us but sometimes some of us don’t want to eat them. I have to confess that I am not one of them, I love my vegetables! But as a registered dietitian nutritionist, I like being able to help everyone enjoy ways to add them to their daily routine!

One way to do this is by a mini veggie plate for snack time. I wanted to make these veggie trays a little different, a little fun and tasty! I hope that you like some of these ideas so much that you will make them to take to work, eat on the weekend and even serve at a party! You can make a plant-based meal for a vegetarian or vegan option too!

What Are the Makings of a Veggie Plate

  1. When we think of a veggie tray we often think about the typical carrot, cauliflower and broccoli tray and there is nothing wrong with that! However, I wanted to create and share some ideas with fresh produce that is in season so you can visit your local farmers’ market or garden.  Take a look at these three veggie tray ideas!

    2.These veggie trays need a little bit of prep ahead of time, but you can make them for your weekend lunch or snack and save some to have for during the week. It will be your little oasis time at the office when you eat them

    These vegetable trays have been inspired from around the world if you have not had a chance to visit, you can at least eat like you have been there! With this collection of recipes, you can make one thing, mix and match or make the entire veggie tray concept!

    3.The first “Not Your Boring Vegetable Tray” is anything but boring, it has a Mediterranean influence and uses eggplant and bell pepper that you can find now at the farmers’ markets. I roasted the eggplant and made a dip!

    A mezze platter is a delicious tray of savory items as an appetizer that is popular in Turkey, Israel, Greece, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern cultures. An eggplant, tahini (which is sesame seed butter) and lemon juice makes a delicious dip for crackers or raw vegetables. This dip is called Baba Ghanoush which is made a little different and spelled different depending on the country of origin.

Menu Ideas for Deliciously Different Veggie Plates

Even though these veggie plate ideas are made for one, you can easily increase servings for how many people you desire. Try these yummy dips for veggie trays also! You can also make them for a tasty lunch!

1. Mezze Platter for One

Pita triangles (cut 1/2 pita circles into 4 small triangles)

1/3 cup Baba Ghanoush Dip (see recipe below)

5 Greek olives

2 little chunks of feta cheese

1/2 cup sliced bell pepper

Baba Ghanoush Dip

This is one of my favorite dips for veggie trays and goes great with pitas, crackers or a vegetable dip. It is also tasty as a lunch in a tortilla wrap with the fixing above with tomato and lettuce! This recipe uses tahini which is a sesame seed butter to give this dip a distinct nutty flavor. Tahini is also one of the main ingredients for hummus!

1 medium eggplant (you can peel but as you can see I left my peeling right on to get the added flavor and nutrients)

Juice from half of a lemon

1/3 cup tahini spread

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut eggplant in half or even smaller pieces. Place on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Roast for about 15-20 minutes until it becomes translucent and put in a food processor with tahini and lemon juice.

Make a Carrot Dip and serve with Asian inspired fixins!
Make a Carrot Dip and serve with Asian inspired fixins!

2. Carrot Ginger Veggie Dip with Asian Inspired Fixins for One

Another savory idea for a veggie plate that has an Asian flair and uses roasted carrots for the dip.

Here is what you will need to make this veggie plate:

1/3 cup Carrot Ginger Veggie Dip (see recipe)

Snow peas (I steamed mine ahead of time, but you can also have uncooked)

Red bell pepper slices

5 almonds

5 rice crackers

Carrot Ginger Veggie Dip

This combination of carrots and Asian seasonings make a great dip for rice crackers and other veggies!

4 large roasted carrots, sliced

2 tablespoon peanut butter

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sorghum or molasses

Peanut oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss sliced carrots on cookie sheet and roast about 15 minutes until they begin to caramelize. Add the carrots to a food processor and add the other ingredients. Blend until spoon and serve!

Bring toasted bread topped with tomato and egg served with marinated carrots and roasted cauliflower!

And last but not least try my tapas veggie tray! Tapas are appetizers or snacks with a Spanish influence.

Spanish Tapas Vegetable Tray for One

Bring toasted bread topped with tomato and egg served with marinated carrots and roasted cauliflower!

4 Marinated Spanish Carrot Pickles (see recipe below)

4 Roasted Cauliflower Pieces (see recipe below)

2 Tomato Toasts topped with Boiled Egg (see recipe below)

Marinated Carrots

This recipe is a little different twist to the traditional Spanish tapas by creating a carrot pickle that is easy to transport to work for a snack! This recipe makes enough for about 2 cups of pickles. You can cut the recipe if you are making for one.

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into small match sticks

1/2 medium onion sliced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Sprinkle of paprika, oregano and freshly ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a quart mason jar with a lid add the carrot match, garlic, olive oil and onion. Add the other ingredients in a small saucepan and heat to mix the ingredients and then pour over the carrot mixture. Let sit at least an hour to let the vegetables marinate and let the vinegar mixture cool. Refrigerate the jar of leftovers and use within a week or two.

Roasted Cauliflower

1 small head cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces

2 cloves garlic pressed

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss cauliflower with olive oil, paprika and cumin. Add the cauliflower to a cookie sheet and stir around every 5 minutes until cauliflower begins to caramelize. Allow to cool. Eat as a vegetable side dish with dinner, serve at a party as tapas or bring for an interesting snack for school or work.

Tomato Toasts Topped with Hard Cooked Egg

This recipe usually calls for roasting the tomatoes, but I think that they are also great added uncooked to the little toasts. Depending on how many people you are serving, freeze some of the sliced baguette for later. As I mentioned, this makes a great lunch recipe idea or light supper! The quantities vary depending on it you are making for one or two!

1 thin baguette

1-2 home grown tomato

1-2 hard cooked egg (you can leave off the egg and top with a piece of Smiling Hara’s tempeh, No Evil Foods Plant Meat or marinated tofu

1/2-1 teaspoon marjoram

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Take one small baguette and slice thin. Toast the bread if desired on both sides or you can also skip toasting. Marinate tomatoes in a drizzle of olive oil, marjoram, salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes at 400 degrees until they are slightly cooked. You can also leave raw and just marinate.

Hard cook an egg or two over the stove. To make the sandwich, start with one slice of bread, add a slice of tomato and top with your choice or choices of hard cooked egg or other protein!

Additional Ideas for Veggie Plates

These veggie plate ideas will provide lots of inspiration for future snack ideas and even lunch and supper! The ideas are endless! You could do a Mexican themed veggie tray or a mini roll your own Thai spring roll tray! You could even do a Caribbean theme tray! Let me know what you have created! Would love to hear from you!

In addition to my blog with is full of recipe, you can find more delicious recipes here in my recipe section.

I also have a lot of great seasonal recipe ideas in my new book Farm Fresh Nutrition

Snack time can be fun, healthy and satisfying! Let me know if you tried one and how it turned out for you!

I am an Asheville nutritionist and registered dietitian. I would love to work with you to live the healthy lifestyle that you hope to achieve, you can find out a little more about me here.

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