Healthier Meals? Bring Back The Relish Tray!
My great grandmother, Mama Reed, always had a relish tray at every meal. My mother remembers it being filled with homemade pickles, pickled beats, and fresh vegetables from her own garden according to season. It was the perfect accompaniment to every meal. Folks could pass it around and use the contents to add variety and customization to their dinner. Picky kids could always use the relish tray to round out their plates as well (not that kids were really all that picky back in the old days!).
Nowadays, with our focus on getting kids to try new things and eating more healthful foods, this is the perfect time to bring back the old custom of having a relish tray at meals, with a modern twist to tailor it to our own tastes. Don’t go thinking this is just for kids though! Adults love relish trays almost as much, if not more, than the wee ones. My mother always slices up cucumbers and carrots while we’re cooking at family get togethers. We nibble…and nibble..and then have to make a brand new relish tray before the meal because we’ve ate it all!
This also helps keep our portions of more caloric fare to a minimum as we’ve already partially filled up on the good stuff.
My typical relish tray includes: cucumbers, bell pepper strips, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and peanut butter celery (a favorite of my kids).
Now I know some of you are looking at this and thinking “That’s a veggie tray”. Well, its not. Why? Because I said so.
Oh, I forgot, that doesn’t work outside of my children. ~hangs her head and sighs~. Honestly, it doesn’t work that well for my children, either.
The reason I call this a relish tray is that the dish I am using is called a relish plate and I actually serve these things alongside my meals as a form of condiments so technically, in a highly technical fashion, this is a relish tray. It would just look more like one if my family ate pickles, but we roll with what we got here.
They don’t like pickles but they love cucumbers, which we all know are just premature pickles anyway.
See? It all comes out in the wash.
When the kids want a little snack, just pull the handy dandy relish tray out of the fridge and set it on the table.
This is a GREAT way to get your little ones to try out new things. Just set the tray out and go about your business. Without the watchful eye of a parent, you’d be surprised what kids will try!
Speaking of watchful eyes, my kids were watching me like a bunch of rabid dogs as I photographed this, waiting for me to be done so they could dig in. So soon as I took that last picture, I stepped back and they descended.
Katy already had a stool to stand on and I would have moved the plate to the table but I was afraid I might lose a hand…
This is my relish tray about five minutes later.
I swear I feed my kids, honest. Sometimes they just descend on things like locusts.
When my kids get the munchies and start wanting something, they have to come ask me if they can have whatever it is they are wanting. I do this to keep them from eating junk all day. Most times, if they are asking for a snack cake or pop tart ~sighs~ I give them other options. “No, you can’t have that but you can have a banana or an apple or…”.
BUT, at my house, the rule is, if its on the relish tray, you don’t have to ask if you can have it. This is why they LOVE the relish tray! They enjoy the independence it gives them and I enjoy their eyes getting big as dollars as they look over their snacking feast.
Relish Tray Ideas:
- Carrots
- Tomatoes (sliced or mini)
- Peppers, sliced
- Green onions
- Diced onions
- Jicama (a new favorite of mine)
- Apples
- Spiced apple rings
- Canned fruits or veggies
- Pickles (all varieties)
- Banana Peppers (hot peppers if only for kids)
- Marinated mushrooms (soak mushrooms in Italian dressing..YUM!)
- Radishes
- Grapes
- Berries
- anything you can come up with!
You can include dips if you like but if you’re going for healthy, that muddles up the picture considerably. 
Have A Grateful Memorial Day!
One that my Granny gave me when I was pregnant with my one and only child.
“Baby, be sure you raise him so that everyone can and will love him, not just you.”
From Southern Plate Reader, Angie. To submit your quote, please click here.
Print out my handy dandy Casserole Chart for easy supper creativity!
If you enjoy Southern Plate, please tell a friend!
Posted by Christy Jordan
on May 25 2009. Filed under Misc, Sauces/Other, Side Dishes, Southern Plate Kids.
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I love this idea!!!! I think my children would really love to have a free pass to a snack such as the relish tray! They hate asking first!!!!
Also, I have that exact same relish tray! It must be a Southern thing!
You know, I have no idea where I got that tray but I saw a ton of them last week at Old Time Pottery near my new house! It really is a pretty one, isn’t it?
My kids LOVE the free pass thing! lol
I like it too, so much less hassle!
Gotta have olives-black and green.
LOL! I’ll have to get some of those!!! I don’t eat olives but my Katy LOVES black ones. She puts them all on her fingers and makes monster hands first, of course! lol
Those younguns are just too cute!! Love a veggie tray and never think to do one. Shame on me!
Thank you!! I just love that picture!!! I keep pulling up Southern Plate so I can see it. They just look so precious there. I’m not biased at all now..but UGH! I just adore those kiddies!!!!
I want to do a relish tray just for me one of these days, lol! BUT I did get Brady hooked on bell pepper strips!!! TWO POINTS FOR ME!!
Peanut butter and celery is one of my favorite lunches. We never have a holiday without a relish tray that includes celery stuffed with homemade pimiento cheese. Look at that tray on that granite in that new kitchen!!!
Happy Memorial Day!
Hey Susan!! I am just having such a wonderful time in my new kitchen. I can’t even tell you how much I enjoy it. I love waking up and going in there each and every morning. The kids sit at the table throughout the day as I cook and clean and we talk and just have the best time enjoying our home!
You know what is CRAZY? I have never had pimento cheese in celery! I know it would be amazing. Making out my grocery list now!
Gratefully,
Christy
Hi – My Grandma always had a relish tray/vegetable plate at every meal I can remember. She canned pickles, beets, spiced apples and pears and so many other things plus vegetables fresh from the garden. She always had a bowl of sliced tomatoes. It was all go good! That’s eating healthy.
Karen, you are so right! Now we’re talkin’ good stuff!
Bless your grandma! I wish I could try her spiced apples, I bet they were amazing.
What a great idea. My kids, too, have to ask before they get anything from the fridge or cabinets. Maybe I should start the relish tray idea – maybe add cut melon or grapes to it as well! Thanks for the idea!
Oh now see fruit is our downfall. I buy it but there is never any left for the tray! We seem to eat it all instantly! lol
Melons are a personal favorite. I have been known to buy a watermelon and hide it to eat all by myself when the kids are in bed and the husband is working late!
Shhhh! Don’t tell!
I have the same tray! We are all special!
WOOHOO! We need to all get together and bring our trays filled with food! lol
And you’re darn tootin, you’re special!! I sure appreciate you!
Gratefully,
Christy
We always have a relish tray on holidays. And we do call it a relish tray. I envy you your tray. Mine is much smaller. Too small really. I end up putting the green onions in a glass. The black olives in a small bowl and pickled beets in a small bowl. Then, maybe, the rest will fit in my tray.
I bet your table looks awesome though with it all spread out in all of those different dishes!!!
Now you’ve got me wanting green onions, lol!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
I guess I’m different, we always called it a “veggie platter” rather than a tray or plate. But we served ours on an antique oriental style platter, that didn’t have the little divisions. Whenever we have reunions or big family get togethers, we would always have a veggie platter! And then a cheese and cracker platter, too.
Crackers are my downfall. I could just eat nothing but them all day so I try to stay away from them. I have no self control! lol
Don’t you just love the food at family get togethers? Relatives make everything taste better
Christy
I agree with Elaine up above.. Ya gotta have Olives… those little green delicacies from across the vast world.. I mean.. without Greek or Spanish olives.. it just ain’t American!
Beeeyuhll, you come over, I’ll have olives
.
You and Katy can put them on your fingers and chase each other around the house.
I had to google Jicama.. Tis good to Google..
Jicama is an odd little thing. It looks like a khaki colored turnip. When you peel it, it looks like an apple. The texture is kind of like an apple but it tastes like fresh fresh green beans with a crunchy texture.
I know this sounds odd but trust me, it’s GOOD!
I can find them local here and I bring it home, peel it, and Brady and I polish it off standing at the kitchen counter! lol
Oh YUM!!!
What a perfect idea …..especially with Bikini season coming up.
You know, this body has never known bikini season! lol
Tankini season I can kinda sorta do…oh who am I kidding?
I quit swimming years ago, when they took the fully body bloomer suit out of fashion!
But for you and your bikini season, YOU GO GIRL!! Have a bikini season in my honor!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
That’s a great idea Christy. Especially now that I’m on a diet. I scored big at the store Saturday with a produce special they were having. I’ve got a huge salad in the fridge and we grilled a bunch of veggies last night with our little steaks. My older boy loves veggies, and my little one is on his way. (And my little one is ALWAYS hungry when he walks in the door in the afternoons.)
My son is STARVING at all times!!! Its like he has a wooden leg! I feed him and feed him and feed him and he’s still hungry!
In true boy fashion, you can see his poor little ribs, too! Bless his heart, he must be getting ready for one hum dinger of a growth spurt!
I love grilled veggies! Too bad I don’t have a grill!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy, I have raised 3 sons and that hollow leg never fills up so get prepared for the groceries that are to be bought. Had my 3 1/2 year old grand daughter with me the other day and I brought out sliced yellow peppers and english cukes and added ranch dressing for her to dip in. She just plain wore it out and left the hotdog with catsup until last. Love your site and have been passing it to others. We visited your area last month sure wished you had a place to eat as in a restaurant but realize with 2 little ones not a possibility now. We went to Hartsell and I found some goodies in the antique stores there. Loved Decatur as well. Keep up the good recipes I love them and the comments remind me of earlier days and family.
Wow, that tray looks tasty! What a great idea!
Thank you so much, Heather!!! I appreciate you taking the time to read and especially to comment!!!
~loves comments~
Gratefully ,
Christy
Hello Christy!
You are a well spring of wonderful ideas! A relish tray- I never would have thought of it!
Thank you! Now my children won’t spend all summer eating chips, gorp, and fruit rolls! Not to mention that since I don’t have an antique relish tray (or any relish tray) it will be fun looking for one!
Your casserole chart is fantastic and so very helpful! Thank you for including it today! My family and I will think of you each time I recreate one of your yummy dishes!
Maralee,
If your presence in this world brightens other people’s lives half as much as it does mine, we better get ready for an eternal sunshine!!
Thank you so much! Can’t wait til your visit to the Rocket City!!
Gratefully,
Christy
My son and I have fruit tray with every meal he lovees the dip I make to go with it
Fruit Dip
3 cups plain yogurt
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp. cinnamon
Fold pudding mix into yogurt. Add cinnamon. Let chill one hour. Sprinkle top with cinnamon to serve.
If you try it I hope you like it.
I had to google Jicama. I have no idea what that is?!
For dips, you could perhaps make your own healthier dips? My friend’s mum makes an avocado dip (similar to guacamole) and she just roughly mashes the avocado so it’s still a little chunky and adds a small amount of diced tomato and red onion.
I love pesto as well, although I’ve never made it myself. But I could just eat it all day with some little bread sticks.
What a great idea! I have two “Picky” eaters (ages 4 and 6) and this may be just the thing to get them eating healthy veggies. Just went shopping today, so I have lots of produce to try.
And my kids will just love the name “relish tray”. Here in the Northeast we usually call it a vegetable platter. So, a new name is a good thing!
My son just loves your comeback sauce. Eats it on lots of things, including pasta.
Thanks for your great ideas.
Your relish tray would match my kitchen I have grapes in my kitchen so it go really well…lol…That is a good idea I’ll have to try it once my son gets about ur kids age he’s only 16 months. My hubby and I will have to do this kind of as an appitizer before dinner! I have a the perfect tray I got for a wedding gift 3 years ago. I haven’t opened yet. I love the tray I just don’t do things like this very often. Thanks Christy! I hope ur Memorial Day went well.
God Bless,
Vickie
Hi Christy.
I’m fascinated by the current use of “picky eater” to describe both children and adults. It seems to be a compliment today, somewhat like saying my child/husband is soooo particular. When I grew up, no one would have thought that a compliment. In fact, no mother that I knew would have admitted it about her family. Maybe it’s because we all had relish trays?
Excellent points, Mary! Picky eater has never been a compliment in my book. But since this is a family oriented site, its better than what I really think when I say that! From the standpoint of the person who does all of the cooking and grocery shopping, my actual thoughts are pain in the…ear.
Relish trays just might have been the way folks kept this hidden, you’re right!
Your reply really made me laugh. I wasn’t really thinking about your post on introducing children to a variety of good foods — which is a brilliant idea, as evidenced by the before/after pics of the relish tray. I really had in mind recipe sites where ratings of recipes frequently begin with an evaluation of how the writer’s “whole family of picky eaters” like the recipe. Imagine shopping and cooking for such a family! As Angie’s grandmother says, “Baby, be sure you raise him so that everyone can and will love him, not just you.” =0)
“Picky eater” was definitely not a compliment to my grandmother either!
I think I was her favorite granddaughter because I was a “good eater!” The others were picky! That was probably because no one cooked special for me when I was a kid. I ate what was being served or I went hungry! The only time I might have gotten special cooking of my favorite things was when it was my birthday or I got a good report card!
LOVE AND MISS THE RELISH TRAY — GREAT POST, GREAT IDEAS –
THANKS, C!
Christy!
What a wonderful idea! We always have a relish tray or dish out at holiday get-to-gethers…but I never thought about doing in for regular meals. I don’t think it would work for my 20 year old, but it is still a great idea for me and my husband… Instead of looking for a cookie or candy bar, if I had a relish dish out or ready in the fridge…we could easily snack on that and avoid the carbs.
Thanks for brightening my day with this wonderful idea
Dianne
Being raised up as a Yankee, our “supper club” restaurants (you can even look it up on Wikipedia!) always featured a relish tray on a lazy Susan as part of the free appetizer that you didn’t have to pay for! In addition to the usual olives, sweet gherkins, pickled beets, radishes, celery, etc., many of them also featured cottage cheese or cheddar cheese spread and crackers (especially in Wisconsin). My ‘Bama boy (er, husband) always had a relish tray at home too when he was being raised by his Nanny Selma and said it was okay but when I put my relish tray on a lazy Susan and added cottage cheese, he went crazy for it! Thank you for your awesome blog, you help me keep my southern man happy with proper food!
LOVE a good relish tray! And I never thought about using jicama on one. I enjoy stuffing celery w/ low-fat cream cheese & line up craisins on top. Delish!
[...] Sunday, 31 May, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized Healthier Meals? Bring Back The Relish Tray! | Southern Plate. [...]
I met this sweet lady where I work(Waffle King) I love her Website with all the old southern cooking. I have been cooking since I was 9 years. My daddy taught me how to ccok and I have been doing it for 40 years and I love to what I do.
Thank You
Alice
My grandmother always had a relish tray for Sunday meals. It was my job to fill the celery with cheese spread (the kind that was in a small glass jar). She would save the jar and use it as a juice glass. I remember how much I loved having my morning OJ in that little glass. It’s funny how family meal time brings back so many memories.
I’m a fan of the relish tray. Thanks for posting.
[...] Relish Tray Ideas For Kids! [...]