Pineapples give your party a tropical feel.
Luau food surrounded by a garden of greens, vegetables and fruits whets the appetite. Be lavish with the garnishes to recreate the tropical rainforest look of Hawaii. Cover the tables with bamboo curtains cut to fit. This gives an exotic look to the table. Lay palm fronds or banana leaves on the bamboo. The platters will be laid over the fronds and leaves. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Cover all the serving platters with a variety of leafy greens, one type of green to a platter. Use kale, red chard, spinach, butter lettuce and romaine lettuce. Also cut the leafy tops off of beets for deep, rich, red veining on dark green leaves.
2. Cut the tops off red and green cabbages and hollow out the insides to make a serving bowl out of the cabbage. If the bottom wobbles, take a thin slice off to steady it. Use hollowed-out red, purple, orange and green sweet peppers for smaller bowls for sauces and dips. Again take a thin slice off the bottom if necessary. Cut large fruits such as pineapples and melons in half to hold food.
3. Fill the larger vegetable bowls with salads and place them on a leaf-covered platter. Surround the vegetable bowls with clear bowls also filled with salads. Tuck more leaves in between the clear bowls.
4. Put a pepper bowl in the middle of a smaller green-covered platter and surround with cut up vegetables for dipping. Use green and yellow vegetables around a yellow pepper bowl. Place red vegetables around a red pepper bowl. Or use the red and orange pepper bowls to hold flavored yogurts for dipping fruits.
5. Create a pineapple palm tree by slicing off the tops and bottoms of real pineapples and attaching them with skewers for the trunk of the palm tree. Attach to a wood serving board by hammering a 6-inch nail up through the bottom and pushing the pineapple down on top of it. Add an artificial fern on the top of the second pineapple to look like leaves of a palm tree. Fill around the base of the palm tree with grilled and glazed chicken wings.
6. Put a smoked pork roast or roasted piglet, which is a favorite at luaus, on a large serving platter covered with greens. Surround the piglet or roast with fresh tropical whole fruits such as mangos, kiwis, star fruit and baby bananas. Fill several of the red, yellow and orange pepper bowls with dipping sauces such as teriyaki, sweet-and-sour sauce, and wasabi mustard. The pepper bowls don't hold much, so use more than one for each kind of sauce.
7. Add tropical flowers in and among the food. Orchids are edible as are hibiscus, nasturtiums, which look rather tropical, and squash blossoms, which look like day lilies. Day lilies are also edible but they won't stay open in the evening.
8. Arrange the table so food can be accessed from both sides. Put the entr e in the middle of the table and salads and side dishes on either side. Set up a separate dessert table and drink table to avoid congestion.
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