We began a Thanksgiving tradition a few years ago: creating a turkey-shaped veggie tray as one of our holiday appetizers. While reviewing photos from past Thanksgivings, I rediscovered a picture of a vegetable turkey I had completely forgotten about. You can easily form a turkey shape using whatever vegetables you have on hand — the more colorful, the better.
For this version we used baby carrots, red and yellow peppers, green peppers, celery, black olives and cucumber slices. It only takes a few minutes to arrange the vegetables on a platter, and the finished Turkey Veggie Platter is always a fun, festive addition to the table.
This simple tradition is great for encouraging kids to eat more vegetables, and assembling the platter is a hands-on activity the whole family can enjoy. Use larger pieces for the body and fan out colorful pepper strips and carrot sticks for the tail feathers. Add olive slices or cucumber rounds for eyes and accents.
I haven’t decided what this year’s vegetable turkey will look like yet, but I’ll be sure to take better photos to share next Thanksgiving. In the meantime, use the image below as a guide when you assemble your own tray.
So grab a large platter or serving tray, arrange the vegetables in a turkey shape guided by color and contrast, and enjoy a festive, healthy appetizer. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!