Salad decorations: original ideas for a festive table

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

A well-decorated dish increases appetite. Taking into account that often our festive tables are "snack" in nature, the art of decorating salads becomes one of the hostess's priority skills. Especially for you, we have collected the most original serving options and the best tips for decorating these dishes.

A simple decoration for everyday salads

Prepare for the holiday will help daily practice. Beautiful food is not just an attribute of the festive table. By learning the basics of serving and decorating everyday dishes and making it a rule to beautifully serve salads even for a regular homemade dinner, you will easily impress your guests at the holiday.

To get started, try these simple tricks:

1. A detail in everyday presentation. Sometimes you don't have to be smart with complicated cuts, layers, or extras to make certain types of salads look pretty. It is enough to use one or more original parts. Here is an example of a fruit salad that simply has stars cut out withcookie cutters made from a thin slice of watermelon.

2. Use shaping rings when serving salads. Rings here are a conditional name, as they come in completely different shapes and sizes. They are easy to make yourself from improvised items. For example, from plastic bottles of different sizes.

3. Use a plate. Try to abandon the idea that the plate is only for one dish. On a large plate next to the salad, you can place toast and sauce. Chefs often use a plate with a dish as a canvas for drawing, and an original drawing made with sauces and herbs can fit near the main dish.

Design color

Color in the beautiful design of salads plays a big role. Sometimes the ingredients themselves come to the rescue, and sometimes you can use food or natural dyes. What can you experiment with?

• Many products used to decorate salads on the festive table have white color: boiled egg white, rice, radish, cabbage, sour cream, cottage cheese and cream.
• Red is tomatoes, pomegranates, bell peppers, strawberries and other red berries.
• Orange - carrots, oranges and tangerines. Carrot juice turns foods bright yellow.
• Yellow - peppers, corn, bananas, apples. A good natural dye is turmeric.
• Green - peas, greens, asparagus, peppers, cucumbers, kiwi, apples. Green color is presented in a very large amountproducts.
• An interesting blue color comes from red cabbage juice.
• Purple - grapes, red cabbage, lettuce, beets.
• Beet juice gives a beautiful pink color.

Don't be afraid to experiment with color. A table designed in one color scheme looks stylish and interesting, and if the color is also used in dishes, then it is simply unforgettable.

Food colorings can be used for adult holidays, but it is undesirable for children, it is better to use natural ones there. The children's table should generally take into account the low allergenicity of the products offered to children.

Classic salads

Many housewives do not refuse to prepare classic salads for the holiday, but the hand does not rise to put a ready-made "basin" on the table. The ability to design them in an original way comes to the rescue.

Let's consider a possible design of Olivier. This is a ready mixed and dressed salad. Decorating it with the top layer is undesirable, as it will violate the proportion of the ingredients. Of course, it is possible to decompose the salad into components, but, unfortunately, it will hardly be possible to achieve a bright composition of boiled vegetables.

Submission will come to the rescue. Try to arrange the dish in the form of a basket.

The base is made from a dense bread crust 2-3 centimeters thick. Guides are inserted into it. You can use wooden skewers for these, or if you want everything on the table to be edible, you can use s alted straw sticks. The tip of the onion feather is fixed on one of the guides and the entire basket is braided from the bottom up. Such an original dish for classic types of salads is filled just before serving.

Another salad that is always popular in Russia is herring under a fur coat. A feature of this dish is its layered preparation. It is necessary to preserve the structure of the layers in the original design of the salad. Herring under a fur coat looks very good in transparent bowls or glasses. Of the unusual ideas that allow preserving the traditional taste, it is worth noting serving in the form of rolls.

The most economical (in terms of labor costs), but still unusual design of the salad will be served in the form of a roll. This shape also makes portioning easy.

To make a roll, the salad is laid out in layers in reverse order on cling film or a silicone mat, then rolled up and sent to the refrigerator to fix. After a couple of hours, it is ready for further decoration.

We could not ignore such an allegorical version of the design of the salad as a literal understanding of the name.

Lettuce is laid in traditional layers in the form of a fur coat. The edging of the sleeves, collar and bottom is made from egg whites. You can add carrot buttons. And in the climax, a real head and tail from a herring are applied to the fur coat.

Children's table

Beautiful decoration of salads for a child's birthday plays an important role. children at the tableyou won't be able to resist, but the beautifully presented food will no doubt grab their attention.

Salads will also take a worthy place on the children's holiday table. The main thing is not to forget that children do not trust dishes with a large number of ingredients, and even more so those that are not familiar to them. Use traditional vegetables and fruits to decorate children's salads, and funny and edible figurines of animals or cartoon characters can serve as decorations.

In addition to salads, children will enjoy canapes, fruit cuts and various sandwiches. Remember that it is most convenient and practical to organize a children's table as a buffet, where everyone can take a portioned treat to taste when they are hungry.

Make it easy using stuffing techniques. There should be a minimum of dishes on the children's table. Fruit salads can be served in apple halves or orange peel bowls.

Cheese and bread plates are suitable for s alty and vegetable salads. Snacks can be stuffed with cherry tomatoes, profiteroles or tartlets. Even glasses at children's events are preferable to paper ones. By the way, cleaning after such a holiday will also be much less.

Carving

For inspiration, you can watch several workshops on carving - the art of carving fruits and vegetables. Many housewives use this art in the design of salads, without even knowing about its official name.

During the creative process, you may need some tools:

• sharp knives, preferably smallsize;
• kitchen scissors (in the absence of such, you can use well-washed stationery);
• when working with some vegetables and fruits, it is convenient to use sharp spherical spoons;
• a vegetable peeler is great for getting thin strips;
• Metal biscuit cutters also work well.

Just look at the amazing compositions you can create with these simple tools!

Flowers from vegetables and fruits

One of our most popular decorations are flowers. The simplest roses are made from a thin strip of peel cut in a circle. Such roses can be made from beets, carrots, apples, tomatoes. Very beautiful and delicate flowers are obtained from radishes.

Stunningly beautiful lotus buds are made from onion heads. By pickling it in a vinegar solution, you will let the flower open and make it an edible snack. Light shades can be obtained by dipping the tips of such a flower in beetroot or carrot juice.

Extended cherry tomatoes can be cut from the top and the pulp cleaned out. Stuff them with a Jewish appetizer and get very beautiful tulip buds.

You can remember the traditional and simple design of the Mimosa salad, when stems are laid out on the top layer of mayonnaise - dill sprigs, and the flowers themselves are made from grated egg yolk.

Fluffy asters are laid out from egg whites, cut lengthwise into thin strips. If you usevegetable juices, the bouquet can be multi-colored.

Delightful calla lilies are made from processed cheese. It is necessary to take soft processed cheese individually packaged in the form of flat squares and simply roll it into a bag, in the shape of a calla flower. This cheese is very plastic, so if you pinch the bottom of the bag, it will hold its shape well. A thin bar of boiled carrots is inserted into the middle in the form of a pestle. The stems are made from whole onion feathers, the leaves are made from cut ones.

It is very easy to make flowers from large strawberries. Just make deep cuts in a circle from the petiole to the very top. From these roses you can make a bouquet on wooden skewers or just decorate a salad on top.

The stems and leaves for all flowers are traditionally lettuce, dill and green onion feathers. They can be left as is or shaped with a knife and scissors.

Greens in decoration

Our grandmothers also created masterpieces from the classic trio: onion, parsley and dill. Now we have a huge number of types of greenery at our disposal at any time of the year.

Successfully for a long time housewives use leaf lettuce. One of its advantages is affordability. But we must not forget about other types of greens, which have long been available in large and small supermarkets.

In the summer and autumn, do not forget about the beet tops. It has good taste and is beautiful in itself.

From exotic herbs, arugula, spinach,basil, marjoram and thyme. Each of them has not only excellent taste, but also pronounced decorative properties. Don't forget about them when garnishing your salads. For sweet fruit salads, mint, available all year round, is great.

Sauce

Sauces play an important role in decorating salads. They can be both a separate element of decor and decorate the dish itself. One of our most popular sauces is mayonnaise.

By making a small hole in the bag or placing the mayonnaise in a pastry bag, you can draw thin nets, various laces and curls on salads, draw individual details of the decor.

In sweet fruit salads, whipped cream or thick, high-fat sour cream can be used in the same way. The main thing here is that the sauce has a dense structure and keeps its shape.

Balsamic goes well with white sauces, you can mix them, playing with color contrast and creating different patterns.

Helpful tips

Some vegetables and fruits tend to weather and darken when exposed to air. If you need to use them in decoration, please pre-process.

Vegetable cuts for better appearance and preservation can be greased with a thin layer of vegetable oil.

Fruit slices, so that they do not darken, are sprinkled with lemon juice, you can also use a transparent mirror glaze. To prepare it, you need 200 grams of sugar, 200 grams of water and 4 grams of gelatin. Gelatin is soaked in water. water withsugar is brought to a boil. Then the syrup is cooled to about 60 degrees and gelatin is added. Use frosting while still warm.

Fruit and vegetable cuts are advised to be made on a clean plastic board with a ceramic knife. Of course, this will not stop the oxidation process, but if there is no contact with the metal, it will proceed more slowly.

If you don't have lemon juice on hand, you can dilute a small amount of dry citric acid in water. If this option is not possible, then keeping vegetables and fruits in ice water for several minutes will slow down the oxidation process.

Another important point. If you use toothpicks, wooden skewers, or other inedible items in decoration, warn guests about this. And do not hide the ingredients from which the decor was created. It is unlikely that anyone would want to eat a beautiful lotus in the form of a head of fresh onion.

Serving as part of decoration

If you perfectly decorate dishes, but serve them in old ugly dishes, somehow arranged on the table, the whole impression of the holiday will be spoiled. Serving is a very important part of the celebration, designed to complement and emphasize the beauty of the dishes.

Here are a few things to consider.

• Tablecloth. This is a required attribute. If acrylic options are suitable for everyday dinners, then a tablecloth made of natural fabric should be present at the celebration. It must match the shape and size of the table. According to the rules of etiquette, the edges of the tablecloth are about 20-25 centimeters long.
• Dishes. It is advisable to use sets of dishes for the celebration, designed for the number of guests at the table. Assorted plates look unaesthetic. To make your task easier, you can choose noble white sets. Firstly, this is a classic, secondly, on a white plate, nothing distracts the eye from the dish, and thirdly, they can be discreetly combined with each other. The principle of sameness also applies to glasses and cutlery.
• Napkins are another indispensable attribute. They can be placed separately, or you can make beautiful compositions from them, most importantly, monitor their availability for all guests. Beautiful, bright napkins are able to combine all the items on the table into a single composition.
• Arrangement. The arrangement of dishes on the table is very important. It is unlikely that guests will be satisfied if you put all the riches on the table, and there is too little space left for individual appliances. If the table is small and there are many guests, it is better to serve dishes gradually. Start with your beautiful salads, then serve hot, followed by dessert. It is quite acceptable to allocate a separate small table for snacks.

This knowledge is quite enough to hold a holiday at the highest level. Let your celebration be fun, and the guests at the properly served table enjoy the beauty and taste of the dishes you have prepared.