Vegetable Bouquet

Looking for something a little different to do with those fresh garden vegetables? Turn them into a delicious and attractive vegetable bouquet. It takes no longer than if you were making plain carrot sticks—but what a surprise treat for your family!

1 cucumber

1 large carrot

12 to 15 red radishes

1 head of leaf lettuce (cabbage or cauliflower may be substituted)

toothpicks

Optional: turnips, celery, green onions, tomatoes

Notch grooves lengthwise down the sides of the cucumber and carrot with a sharp paring knife. Then slice the cucumber into 3/8-inch slices and the carrot into 1/4-inch slices. (A daisy cookie cutter may also be used to cut “flowers” from the slices.) Set aside. Cut radishes into “roses” or other flower forms by making cuts into the radish. With a toothpick spear a cucumber slice and then a sliver of the leftover carrot or radish to make the center of the “flower.” Stick into lettuce. Do the same thing to the carrots and radishes and arrange all the “flowers” on the lettuce. Save all scraps and refrigerate for later use in a tossed salad. Nancy Harris Judd, Tsaile, Arizona