Make a striking vegetable arrangement using fresh seasonal produce

This striking vegetable arrangement made with fresh seasonal produce is bound to steal the show at your next dinner party. You can easily switch up the ingredients based on what your garden or local market has to offer; for instance, celery can replace rhubarb, cucumbers can stand in for zucchini — anything goes. So have fun experimenting with different colours and shapes as you assemble this edible masterpiece. 

Scroll down for tips on how to preserve the produce if you plan on consuming it later. 

Materials

1 large Piel de Sapo (Santa Claus melon), cantaloupe or melon of your choice, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed 
2 stalks green onion
7 stalks rhubarb (or celery)
1 large red heirloom tomato 
1 small yellow zucchini 
3 garlic scapes 
1 cluster oyster mushrooms 
2 stems cherry tomatoes on the vine
7 small green zucchini, blossoms attached
½ radicchio di Treviso 
23+ wooden cocktail skewers or long toothpicks 
2 taper candles in colours of your choice 

Instructions

Place the melon halves skin-side up and use a knife to slice off a small section about 3 inches from the top of each melon half. This will allow the melon to sit flat on any surface and act as the base for your arrangement. Flip the melon halves over and place them next to each other in the middle of your table, flesh side up.

To incorporate the rest of the produce onto the melon bases, it's helpful to visualize the melon bases in quadrants for placement.

Pierce the roots of the green onions with skewers and attach them vertically to the back left corner of the left melon half.

To the left of the green onions, lay 3 rhubarb stalks horizontally on an angle with the thicker ends pointing back toward the onions. The intention is for the stalks to cross over to the right melon half. Pierce a skewer through the stalks to attach them to the melon.

Carefully place the yellow zucchini on top of the rhubarb, horizontally and on a slight angle, then  secure it to the rhubarb stalks with a skewer.

Rest the tomato up against the right side of the green onions on the left melon half.

Insert skewers into the bottom of each garlic scape and attach them to the back right corner of the right melon half.

Attach a few skewers to the stems on the cluster of mushrooms and insert them, cap-side up, into the front right corner of the right melon half.

Insert skewers into the stems of 3 green zucchini and attach them, blossom-side up, to the right melon half between the garlic scapes and the mushrooms. Repeat with 3 more green zucchini on the left side of the left melon half.

Lay 1 green zucchini flat in the hole of the left melon half with the stem facing back toward the green onions. Place a stem of cherry tomatoes beside it in the hole, allowing the cherry tomatoes to spill out and drape over the side of the melon.

Scatter a handful of loose cherry tomatoes in the hole of the right melon half.

Attach a skewer to the bottom of the radicchio and insert it into the back left corner of the right melon half.

To fill in the extra space, insert skewers into the bottoms of the 4 remaining rhubarb stalks and attach 2 into the back half of each melon half. To add some height variety, you can trim 1 stalk from each set slightly shorter.

Insert a skewer into the bottom of each taper candle and attach 1 to the centre of each melon half, leaving enough space from the rhubarb stalks for safety when you light the candles. Light them just before your guests arrive, and be sure to use a wax catcher if you plan on consuming the produce later.

Note: This arrangement should be refrigerated overnight and the produce should be consumed within 2 days of arranging.

Produced in collaboration with the CBC Creator Network.