How to Decorate Salad for a Competition

Step 1

1

Arrange the food in a striped pattern for an easy decoration. Chop up any fruits or veggies you’d like so that each type of food is cut up the same way using the same thickness. Separate the plate into equal sections of stripes and fill each stripe in with a different food, like strawberries, shredded carrots, blueberries, or tomatoes.

Avoid putting foods that are the same color next to one another in the stripes, like cucumbers and lettuce.

You might create stripes out of only two foods, like strawberries and blueberries, or have each stripe be a different type of food for more diversity.

Make the stripe pattern more complex by turning it into a zig-zag pattern instead, if desired.

Step 2

2

Place fruits or veggies on a round plate for a circular presentation. Create a bulls-eye effect by arranging the sliced foods in circles on the plate. Choose one type of food to start with and line the edges of the plate with the food, creating a full circle. Continue creating circles with different foods, starting at the outer edges and working your way into the center.

For example, you might create a large outer ring of cucumbers, the next ring of carrots, the next ring of hard-boiled eggs, and so on until you fill in the whole plate.

You could also create a spiral design using one type of food and fill in the spare areas with other kinds.

Step 3

3

Form a heart shape with chopped foods for a love-themed salad. Cut up different fruits, veggies, or other foods into slices and arrange them in a large heart shape. Fill in the heart with the cut up foods so that it’s completely full and colorful.

You might create the outline of the heart with blueberries and then fill it in with strawberries, apples, pineapple, and oranges.

Form lots of hearts within the large heart for a more complex design.

Step 4

4

Put the fruits or veggies on a square platter for a geometric look. Chop up your foods so that they’re equal sizes and choose one food type to place around the edge of your square platter. Once it’s outlined, fill in another square using a different food, overlapping the first food slightly. Keep creating smaller and smaller squares until you’ve filled in the whole platter with different foods.

Place carrots around the edge of the square with additional squares made of cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, and cheese.