Sunday, July 27, 2008

How to Fancify Your Salad

It’s still too hot here to prepare and eat much more than salads. So instead of bore you with salad recipes, I’m going to show you how I made ice bowls for serving salads.

You will need 2 bowls, plastic or metal (not glass), one about an inch in diameter smaller than the other. I had on hand two smallish bowls.




Decide how you want to decorate your bowl. Since my bowls were for salad greens, I thought orange slices would be a nice contrast. These are sliced thick and I actually used six for my bowl.




Fill the larger bowl about half full with water. If you were using chopped herbs or anything small, you would stir those into the water at this point. If using the orange slices, place the smaller bowl into the larger bowl. Secure it to the larger bowl with a couple of pieces of water resistent tape to keep it centered.




Place the orange slices in between the bowls. Finish securing the bowls with more tape.




Place the bowls into the freezer to freeze overnight. I put a plate on top of mine for extra security.




When ready to use, remove from the freezer. Remove the tape and the smaller bowl. Turn the ice bowl upside down onto a plate and let it sit until it releases. Mine took 15 minutes. For serving, the ice bowl will need to sit on something that will keep it from moving and that you won’t mind getting wet. I just used a paper towel, but a pretty place mat would be much nicer!

And the result –



Doesn’t it look cool and refreshing?




It was so fun I decided to make another one with flowers. (These aren’t edible, but it was just a practice bowl.)



The bowls will keep in the freezer, I would imagine for quite a while. I made a single serving size, but if your freezer is big enough you could certainly make a family size bowl. This is an inexpensive and easy project. I didn’t have to buy a single thing to make these bowls. Some other ideas I had were:

Use just water for a clear bowl to serve strawberry ice cream.
Use tinted water to serve vanilla ice cream.
Use water filled with lots of green herbs to serve colorful fresh fruit.

I’m not a crafty person AT ALL and I know any of you could make a much nicer bowl than I did. I would love to see what you come up with!

Finally, a special heartfelt thanks to shellyfish of Musings from the Fishbowl, Sam of I’m Vegan and Therefore Cooler Than You, and Katy of Legally Vegan for nominating my blog for the Brillante Weblog Award!


I’m honored that you thought of me. Rather than pass the award along to seven others (it has made the rounds!), I nominate everyone on my blogroll (and any others bloggers I visit but haven’t yet updated to the roll) because I truly admire your skills in the kitchen and your passion for veganism.
Now I’m off to make lots of salads for tonight’s dinner!

43 comments:

Katy said...

Wow, that is SO cool! I'm not crafty at all, but I think I could actually pull this off. Thanks for the idea!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

What fun, great tips!! And such a gorgeous presentation as well :0)

Congratulations on the blogging award!!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Wow, that is one of the most creative things I've ever seen! I love it and am definitely bookmarking this post. I'm also going to show the post to my mom.

Anonymous said...

Those bowls are just gorgeous! I vowed I was going to do one like that at the holidays with glitter & cranberries, but somehow it just didn't happen... but now I can try to redeem myself with summer-pretty bowls!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Those bowls are amazing Diann! I love the bowl of flowers, very pretty :)

Rose said...

Wow, what a great idea! I would've never thought of that. Congrats on your award :)

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! What an awesome idea! The bowls looks beautiful.

Congrats on your triple award :) I enjoy your blog so much.

Little Miss Sunshine said...

Oh my goodness, that ice bowl is BEYOND gorgeous!!!! I have NEVER thought of this before - you're a GENIUS!! Wow, don't you think this would make a nice centerpiece for a potluck?!! I wonder how long would they last in the summer months, hrmmm ...

Last but certainly not the least ... CONGRATULATIONS on your award ... you totally deserve it!!!

tavolini said...

What a great idea! I've never seen these ice bowls before--very creative!

LK Sisters said...

Wow, I've never thought of something so unique and decorative! I love it! Thanks for sharing.

Crystal said...

Can we say gorgeous? That is so cool - I'm totally using this as a surprise to Ryan one night/afternoon. Yay!

Anonymous said...

Those are awesome! I've heard of them before, but never seen it done so well! I really love the oranges. Fruit salad would be pretty in the citrus one!

Amy said...

What an awesome idea! So pretty. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind for when summer rolls around down here :)

Jim Gerl said...

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I just voted for your excellent blog for Bloggers Choice awards.

Could you please return the favor at :

http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.
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Thanks,

SpEdLaw2

Amey said...

how fun. Those bowls are so beautiful! Amazing.

I am equally amazed by how much room you have in your freezer! There's no way I could squeeze in a whole bowl. Ha ha. too many bags of frozen berries, frozen seitan, etc.

Carrie™ said...

I have never seen ice bowls before. What an awesome idea! I love the one with the flowers.

Emmy said...

Your ice bowls are just gorgeous! Great Job!!!! :)

Ruby Red said...

Haha, I was so confused at the beginning of your post -- I was like, What on earth is she talking about?! Then I realized, Oh! A bowl made out of ice! Both of them are gorgeous. This is such a great idea.

Ruby Red said...

Haha, I was so confused at the beginning of your post -- I was like, What on earth is she talking about?! Then I realized, Oh! A bowl made out of ice! Both of them are gorgeous. This is such a great idea.

Jackie said...

Looks great with the orange slices, have only seen them with flowers before, but made me shiver as it is freezing here today.

I shall try it out when summer rolls around in a couple of months :)

urban vegan said...

Well Hello There, Martha Vegan. That is just lovely--what a great idea. I bet little kids would love to decorate the salad bowl themselves.

Sheree' said...

These are the coolest thing I have ever seen! You are so creative. Thank you for sharing your great idea! I can't wait to make one. The packing of my parents is almost done and I can't wait to get back to cooking and blogging. Oh, my parents are moving to Rosharon, which is about 10 miles south of Alvin in between Galvaston and Houston. I am not sure where Austin is from there. I do know if I get out to visit, somehow we will have to get together. Hugs! Oh new pics of the baby on Brandie's blog.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Fancy and fantastic!

Erin said...

Alright, Miss Martha Stewart. Not crafty? Pshaw. Those are really cool.

Anonymous said...

Incredibly beautiful!

Anonymous said...

ooooh, I just found your blog when you posted on mine! your recipes look great, I'm excited to find it!

Meghan said...

WOW! that's SO pretty.
my only question: do you have your AC on 20 degrees? how does that bowl not melt before you can enjoy the salad in this unbearable heat wave we have?
xoxo.
love it!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Those are beautiful bowls!! So very crafty. How did you dome up with that. I will have to give that a try sometime soon!!

And congrats on the award!

Meg Wolff said...

I'm so glad I read your blog today! These bowls are so fantastic!! I love the "orange bowl" and I loved your other ideas as well.

bazu said...

Oh my god, lady! You just officially blew my mind!

That is one of the most beautiful and creative things I've seen in a long time. You are totally deserving of the award!

Peggy said...

whoops, I've just nominated you for that same award! :S

that fancy salad bowl thing looks SO COOL, I'll have to try it!

Anonymous said...

It IS hot here. I am having a hard time motivating myself to actually bake.

Sarah said...

Those are gorgeous! This is such a great idea for a dinner party. I only have so many dishes, and this could work well for cold items. So awesome!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

that is so incredibly amazing!

Judy said...

OMG you are a genius! I can't wait to try that, they are sooooo beautiful!

jd said...

WOAH! That is absolutely amazing! I've never seen a prettier salad - thanks for the awesomely creative idea!

jessy said...

congrats, congrats, congrats! and the salad bowl is the most awesome thing ever! what a brilliant, and beauuuuuuuutiful, idea! wow! :D

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Jenn said...

That is so clever!

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