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Cucumber Biplane

Fresh from the CT test kitchen comes a flight of fancy that's sure to win grins from youngsters—and get them to eat their vegetables without a fuss. In fact, to make it really nifty, ask each of your young ones to help to assemble a plane from cucumber, carrots and olives (be sure an adult does the cutting, of course).

1 ServingsPrep/Total Time: 15 min.

Ingredients

1 medium cucumber
2 medium carrots
9 toothpicks
1 small carrot
3 small pitted ripe olives
Vegetable dip and parsley sprigs, optional

Directions

With a sharp knife, cut a thin slice from bottom of cucumber so it
sits level. Cut out a section of one end of the cucumber to form the
cockpit; discard cutout piece. Scoop out flesh from cut section,
forming a 1/4-in. shell. For wings, cut medium carrots in half
lengthwise. With a vegetable peeler, shave one end of the carrots
into a wedge. On each side of cucumber, cut a horizontal slit 3 in.
from plane's nose a fourth of the way from the top and another
fourth from the bottom. Insert wedge end of carrots into slits to
form wings. For bars between wings, insert four toothpicks
diagonally through carrots on each side. With kitchen shears, cut
excess toothpick above and below wings. For plane's tail, cut a
1-1/2-in.-long piece from the small carrot; cut a 1/4-in.-thick
slice from the piece. Cut slice in half diagonally to form a
triangle. Cut a 3/4-in. slit on tail end of plane. Insert carrot
triangle for tail. For wheels, cut remaining toothpick in half.
Insert one on each side, 2 in. from the front of plane; attach
olives. If desired, fill cockpit with dip, add remaining olive for

2 of 2

Cucumber Biplane (continued)

Directions (continued)

pilot and garnish with parsley. To serve, cut cucumber into slices,
starting at the tail end. Remove toothpicks and wings. Yield: 1
plane.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 135 calories, 2 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 175 mg sodium, 27 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 5 g protein.