House Tyrell Artichoke Bud Salad

Near all the chivalry of the south had come to Renly's call, it seemed. The golden rose of Highgarden was seen everywhere: sewn on the right breast of armsmen and servants, flapping and fluttering from the green silk banners that adorned lance and pike, painted upon the shields hung outside the pavilions of the sons and brothers and cousins and uncles of House Tyrell.

- Catelyn II, A Clash of Kings

This salad was served at my Game of Thrones Season 7 party. At this dinner, I served 9 courses, each designed to look like the heraldry for one of the Westerosi Great Houses. House Tyrell, with their golden rose on a field of green was an obvious choice for the salad course.

I thought about a few ways to make a rose shape. I'd previously made apple roses pastries, however there is an unfortunate dearth of Westeros sigils that honor vegetables and I wanted to at least attempt to create a balanced meal. Vegetables cut in the shape of flowers seemed either too cutesy or too finicky. In the end, I went with an edible flower - the artichoke.

Although closer to green than to the desired golden hue to begin with, the yellow tones become stronger once roasted. I flavored the artichokes with lemon, olive oil and garlic, and kept the "field of green" field greens simple. 

Ingredients

Dota 2 Tango Fruit Salad

“Forage to survive on the battlefield.”

– DotA 2 tango flavor text

A salad so tasty, your mid will demand you pool them four tangoes.

Tangoes are an essential starting item for most heroes and laning strategies in DotA 2, so a The International Viewing Party would hardly be complete without it. This salad looks amazing, is easy to put together and serves as a healthy choice at a videogame-themed snack table. Despite blowing the minds of a redditor or two, balling kiwis and melons is surprisingly straightforward. To make this dish look even more like a tango, I served 3-4 fruit balls on small curly leaves like frisée leaves.