Cruise Into New Territory With Salad Boats This Summer

Though you might not have an actual cruise planned for the summer, handheld salad boats will turn tonight's dinner party into a more festive affair. The portioned presentation of veggies is ideal for hosting since guests can easily pick up individual boats and help themselves.

You'll need durable lettuce leaves like romaine to build these boats of greens. Instead of cutting or tearing the leaves apart as if you were to prepare a Caesar salad, you'll leave the pieces intact so that you can fill them with various salad ingredients. From herby tabouli to yogurt-coated walnuts and fruit that make up a candied walnut Waldorf salad, the possible variations on salad boats are endless. Consider converting an easy tuna lettuce wrap recipe into a boat-style presentation, or create DIY stations for dinner guests to assemble prewashed and dried leaves with the fillings of their choice. Simply set out the necessary ingredients for your favorite summer dishes and let each diner pack their own leafy boats with toppings, seasonings, and dressings. 

Salad boats not only can be a fun hands-on party appetizer but can also reduce the number of dirty plates to clean. Choose a Cobb salad recipe to fill the boats, turn a taco salad into a more tactile experience, or keep plates simple with scoops of creamy homemade hummus and diced tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado. Should you be entertaining in your backyard and have a hot grill fired up, cook crispy bacon for the meat lovers to sprinkle on top of their boats or roast eggplant and mushrooms for the vegetarians to have meatless options.

The satisfying crunch of a crisp piece of romaine is the ideal foundation for spoonfuls of quinoa and crumbles of feta, and you won't need much in the way of dressing to turn this dish into a tasty snack. A drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and fresh crackles of salt and pepper will have your hosting duties on lock with little effort.