A cheaper (and prettier) relish tray

I threw together a relish plate yesterday to take to my writer’s group and was stunned to get a compliment on it. And from someone who works in a deli, of all people! Interestingly, what she found unusual and attractive -- that I layered the veggies and relishes rather than segregating them -- is what I consider to be the cost-control mechanism. But I can’t take credit for the idea. I got it from my mom, and I KNOW she doesn’t do it to save money. She just thinks it’s prettier. And simpler, because you don’t have to keep restocking the depleted sections of the tray.

Layering doesn’t automatically save you money. The trick is to use an inexpensive veggie for your base layer. Carrots (the kind you peel yourself)are perfect. They‘re cheap to begin with, and I already had some lurking in the crisper. (Like, for weeks. It‘s amazing how long carrots "keep their figure," not to mention their crunch.) For the secondary layers, I used a green pepper (about 70 cents) and grape tomatoes ($2.50 a carton but I only used half the carton.) The accent relishes, arranged sparingly on top, were sweet pickles and black olives. I didn’t have any on hand, but I only used a few of each, so I’ll get a lot more use out of both purchases.

Note: If you plan to use pickles, be sure to drain them first so they don’t drip all over the other veggies!