Attractive Fruit Platter Recipe

Fresh Fruit Platter

Fresh fruit is colorful, nutritious and even beautiful when presented in an artistic arrangement. As a centerpiece to a buffet table, a fruit platter is not only a tantalizing appetizer or hors d'oeuvre dish for any party, but very healthy indeed.

The Ingredients for an eye catching fruit plate are simple:

• one head of red leaf lettuce
• one fresh pineapple
• one fresh cantaloupe or honeydew melon
• quart of fresh strawberries
• grape clusters
• festive or party toothpicks

How to Make a Fresh Fruit Platter

Bed of Red Leaf Lettuce

Wash all the fruit, using a fruit wash if desired. Many hands touch the fruit, from the fields to the harvesters, shippers, grocery store shelf stockers and even other grocery store customers, so fruit needs to be thoroughly cleaned before eating. Fruit washes can be purchased at most grocery stores, but an inexpensive home remedy is to fill a spray bottle with half vinegar and half water. After spraying the fruit, rinse thoroughly with cold water until there is no residue.

To make the fruit platter, tear the leaves off the red leaf lettuce head and leave them whole. The lettuce leaves can be dried after washing in a salad spinner. Spread the lettuce leaves on a large oval or square platter with the ruffled edge of the leaves toward the edges of the platter.

Slice Pineapple in Half

Fruit Platter With Rinds

Lay the pineapple on its side and slice it in half, from the bottom all the way through the spiky green top, which is left on to be decorative. Carefully cut the pineapple fruit out of each half, leaving the pineapple rinds intact. They will act as bowls for other fruits. Place the two hollowed pineapple rinds on the red leaf lettuce bed, with the two bases touching each other in the center of the platter and their tops toward the edge. Then cut the pineapple fruit that has been hollowed out into chunks and place in a couple of heaps on the lettuce. Place a festive toothpick into each pineapple chunk.

Hollowed Pineapple Shells

Attractive Fruit Platter

Cut the cantaloupe or honeydew melon into chunks and place some inside one of the pineapple shells and some on the lettuce. Put a toothpick in each chunk, just like with the pineapple. Pinch the green tops off the strawberries and place some in a heap on the lettuce bed and some inside the other pineapple rind shell. Place grape clusters in the pinapple shells, draping over the edge and on the lettuce.

Other fruits can easily be incorporated into the platter, with the only hindrance being the size of the platter. Bing cherries, blueberries, raspberries and peaches would be a wonderful addition. Apples and bananas discolor quickly when cut, so they are not advised. The fruits in the fruit platter are yellow, orange, red, green and purple, a rainbow of colors that make an inviting appetizer for any get together. 

Party Food Fruit Plate

Read more recipes from Dianne Smith:

• Peanut Butter Protein Balls
• Best Ever Non-Alcoholic Fruit Punch Recipe
• Christmas Party Food Recipes