Our Christmas Day dinner menu is classic Italian starting with a full antipasto course. The antipasto spread includes a Centerpiece Platter with Italian tuna, caponata, olives, marinated artichokes and roasted red pepper, a Caprese Salad, Cured Meats, and a big roasted Veggie Platter!
This platter was from Christmas Day last year and includes: roasted zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, eggplant, yellow peppers and tomatoes. It was colorful, loaded with everyone’s favorites and so yummy!
I roasted the vegetables on Christmas Eve and assembled the platter on Christmas Day to minimize the stress and work on Christmas so that I could enjoy the day more with my family.
A few TIPS for making a veggie platter for a party:
Plan ahead in terms of type and quantity of vegetables. Think of your guests and their favorite vegetables–You could even ask people what their favorite vegetables are ahead of time. That way you can make sure you have enough of the preferred vegetables.
You could limit to the favorites but for a great looking platter it is recommended that you look at the colors of those vegetables and then add a few with different colors so the platter is balanced and vibrant in presentation.
Grill or roast a day ahead of time! This will be a huge time saver and they will taste just as great. Just make your platter and let it get to room temperature before serving.
To get them crispy every time:
Make sure the veggies are well dried after rinsing and scrubbing off any dirt
Cut them as evenly as possible so that they cook evenly
Make sure they are coated but not dripping in oil
Place them on the baking sheet so that they are not touching and with enough space in between each vegetable so that they can get crispy.
Roast them at a high temperature (I like to roast them at 400 degrees, except sweet potato fries which I like to roast at 450 degrees if possible). If short on time, roast at 425 degrees, but do for shorter time.
A roasted vegetable platter is always a good idea. It adds color, nutrients and works well with just about everything. Perfect for entertaining or for meal prep so that you have a stocked fridge ready for any meal. See tips for preparing ahead if entertaining on the post above.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Veggies, Sidesm Holiday dishes
Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Vegan
Author: Healthy Gluten-free Family
Ingredients
Quantity depends on number of people serving.
For all: Clean and leave skin on. The most important thing is to cut vegetables in similar thickness to make cooking easier.
Pepper:2 yellowcut in half, stem and seeds removed
Zucchini - 2-3sliced long ways in 1/8 -1/4 inch pieces, then in half
Squash- 2-3sliced long ways in 1/8 -1/4 inch pieces, then in half
Eggplant - 5-6sliced in 1/4 inch circles (my family loves eggplant so can't make too much!)
Mushrooms 1-2 cartonscan be roasted whole or sliced
10roma tomatoes or 20 cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Kosher Salt
Pepperoptional
Basilfor mushrooms, optional
Instructions
Roasted Peppers:
In preheated broiler, roast peppers for approximately 20-30 minutes, rotating once midway through, or until blackened. You want them black so that the skin peels off easier.
Remove from oven and place in a brown paper bag, seal and let cool for about 15 minutes. Then remove from bag and the blacked skins should peel off easily. Slice peppers into strips.
Remaining Roasted Veggies:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. One vegetable at a time, gently toss in olive oil. Lay in a single layer on individual baking sheets. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. I like to also sprinkle the mushrooms with basil. Bake for:
Tomatoes - 10 minutes or until tender.
Mushrooms - 25 minutes or until tender.
Zucchini & Squash- 30 minutes or until tender and just starting to crisp.
Eggplant - 30 minutes or until tender and just starting to crisp.
Store each vegetable separately in air tight containers in the refrigerator for several days.
Serve at room temperature or heat up in a skillet.
This is about as simple and elegant as it gets. I have roasted veggies before but was looking for some inspiration for a dinner party. Perfect. Thank you.
Hi! My name is Karen, and I’m the mom in our Healthy Gluten-Free Family. My posts and pictures here and on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter are labors of love that allow me to share a very personal journey with you, one our family has taken together — learning, experimenting and sharing how to raise a healthy happy gluten-free family. Read more ...
This is about as simple and elegant as it gets. I have roasted veggies before but was looking for some inspiration for a dinner party. Perfect. Thank you.
Thank you so much! Hope your dinner party goes well!