Flower Garden Food Art Lunch
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon
- 3 large strawberries, gently rubbed under cold running water
- 8 sugar snap peas, gently rubbed under cold running water
- 1 mango, gently rubbed under cold running water and peeled
- 1 grape tomato (or cherry tomato), gently rubbed under cold running water
- 1 celery stick, gently rubbed under cold running water
- 1 mandarin orange, gently rubbed under cold running water
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 slice cheddar cheese
- 1 slice mozzarella cheese (or any white cheese)
- 1/2 cup cooked rice
- Mini radish sticks (1 ounce)
- Food container with three compartments
Instructions
- Wash hands with soap and water.
- To make strawberry roses, slice strawberries one time on each side for a total of four cuts. Make these long narrow cuts halfway down the berry. Rotate strawberry slightly and repeat with four more cuts further up and halfway between each of the previous cuts. Slice the top into two pieces. Fold the top of each cut down slightly so that it looks like rose petals.
- To make mango flower, cut mango into very thin slices. Keeping slices together spread across cutting board. Carefully roll pieces together. Use a spatula to pick it up and move into largest compartment of lunchbox. Place a grape tomato in the middle.
- To make mandarin orange flower, remove orange peel in one long narrow piece. Open up orange slices but leave connected at the bottom. Loosely roll up orange peel and place on top of orange slices.
- To make cheese daisies, cut cheddar cheese into the shape of a flower using a flower-shaped cutter. Top with a circle of white cheese (you can use a large frosting tip to cut perfect circles). Put the white cheese circles on top of the cheddar cheese flowers.
- Spread cream cheese on top of celery stick and cut into three pieces.
- Preheat oven to 375 °F.
- To make bacon roses, loosely roll each strip of bacon and pin together using two toothpicks through the middle. Bake at 375 °F for one hour or until bacon is crispy. Wash hands with soap and water after handling uncooked bacon. Remove the toothpicks, and bacon will stay in the rose shape.
- Create the lunchbox by arranging all of the flower art in food container (see photo). Place the bacon roses on top of a bed of rice. Surround two strawberry roses with the sugar snap peas for green leaves. Place the third strawberry rose and mandarin orange flower in the largest compartment with the mango rose. Place the cheese flowers on top of celery and cream cheese logs. Surround all of the flowers and celery with mini radish sticks.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate lunchbox.
Notes
This recipe was developed using the Safe Recipe Style Guide at SafeRecipeGuide.org