Putting together a cheese board doesn’t have to be difficult. How to put together a cheese board quickly will have you whipping up a board for your next drop-by visitor, an easy mid-week meal, afternoon session, or bring a plate occasion. Aside from those with lactose issues who doesn’t love cheese, right?
My love of cheese is a well-known fact about me, so much so even my clients send me cheese in the mail as a gift. It doesn’t have to be difficult; most of what you need to make a killer board can live in your pantry or fridge for you to grab when you need it. That’s my first tip, stock your life in preparation for cheese at any moment.
Start with the basics; take stock.
What do you need to have for a cheese board? Think of your favourite things to eat with cheese; fruits and nuts, cured meats and crackers. All of these things have pretty long shelf lives and can be maintained pretty easily. Start by keeping a well-stocked pantry of crackers, nuts and dried fruits and cheeses, fresh fruits and meats in your fridge. Plus, doing things like growing herbs in your garden can add colour and flavour to your board.
You’d be surprised what you already have in your fridge or pantry to get you started. Take a look, and don’t discount anything as possible ingredients for your board. Some suggestions to keep an eye out for are;
Phew. Once you take a look and start pulling things out to assess, a theme will start to appear. Sometimes we have a heap of tomatoes, so we do an Italian style board with soft cheeses, basil, spinach, olives and bread with olive oil to dip. Other times all we have is a heap of nuts, so we pair that with whatever cured meat and crackers we can find. Got vegetables? Keep it simple with a veggie-heavy crudités platter. Look for the theme and things that work together and crush your charcuterie game.
How to put together a cheeseboard – step by step;
Collect and prepare your supplies
Place your cheeses and larger items.
Prepare, fold and place meats and savoury add ons
Group and place crackers; tuck them around
Fill with fruits or sweet add ons
Dollop or place the dips, spreads or honey
And now it is time to raid the fridge and pantry and see what you can pull together. What do you think? Do you have some ideas for how to put together a cheeseboard quickly? The basics are that you need to keep a good stock of items, use what you have and then pull it all together on a board like an Instagram pro. You might just be surprised at the cheese board level that you can pull off with a few basic supplies and very little planning.
And yes, this isn’t even my first ever post about my love of the cheeseboard. A few years ago, after returning from the Barossa Valley, I shared my tips for cheeseboard signature style. Whatever that is. Haha. Let’s face it, any excuse to have cheese for dinner, take some images and write it all off as a business expense*. What can I say? Sometimes you don’t feel like making dinner; cheese for the win.
Who doesn’t love dessert/breakfast foods? I’m pretty sure that’s how doughnuts, pastries and such things started. So these Berry Coconut Chia Cups are a perfect, really filling, alternative to all that refined sugar.
I’ve had to find a way to be better at mornings. Too often I would be well into mid-morning and realise that all I’ve had to ‘eat’ is coffee. With that in mind, I decided to search the interwebs for breakfast ideas and start to try some of them at home.
There used to be a cafe in town that did a chia breakfast cup and it was my favourite. Their coffee was good too, which was a bonus. A lot of mornings I’d swing by, grab my coffee and my chia cup and head to work. But they closed. Darn it. So while I was looking for breakfast ideas, it occurred to me that it couldn’t be THAT hard to make my own, right?
RIGHT!
They’re so simple, you can make them well in advance (time saver!) and once you get over what my colleague Rob calls the weird texture, they’re a great start to the day. Filling and packed with goodness. Are you ready to give this berry coconutty cup of yum a try? I thought so, read on.
Berry Coconut Chia Cups
YOU NEED
Chia Cups:
Chia seeds – 1 Cup (I used black chia, rinse)
Coconut milk – 1 Can
Coconut water – 2 – 3 Cups (almond milk or water works too)
Vanilla – 1 tbsp
Maple syrup – 1 – 2 tbsp
(serves 4)
To serve:
Coconut Yoghurt
Blueberries
Blackberries
Maple Syrup Leftover purple smoothie (pretty much anything delicious you love)
METHOD
1. Combine chia seeds (rinsed), coconut milk, coconut water, vanilla and maple syrup. Do this is a pouring bowl to make it easier on yourself to put them into jars or cups later.
2. Pour mixture into four cups/jars/pretty things you like
3. Put in fridge to set (give them an hour or two, overnight works too)
4. To serve, decorate the cups with a generous scoop of coconut yoghurt, sprinkle berries and top with maple syrup.
The cups can go back into the fridge if you don’t need them straight away and will keep (especially in a jar with a lid) for 3-4 days depending on your topping and storage choices).
Love this recipe? A pin or a share would be much appreciated.
Meet Tess of Success Undressed who has a #cheesesuccess hashtag on Instagram, join in!
Now I don’t know about you, but I’m a wine and cheese platter kind of girl. I’m assuming if you hang around here with me, maybe you are too. You are, right? I knew it. All the best people are, even if there’s no wine, just cheese.If you’re here, maybe you want to up-skill your platter game? Let’s talk cheese platters, shall we?
How to cheese platter like a pro!
Have a signature style
Everyone thinks they’re a platter superstar (you know who you are!) and that their platter cannot be rivalled. We all like what we like and have our signature style about it. I love that. That’s platter rule number one for me. Have your signature style.
Be flexible
But rule number two is that you have to be flexible. My favourite thing to add to a platter now is roasted asparagus and other veggies. I picked this up from a friend who loves to turn her platters into a meal. Sometimes I’m into fruit and nuts, sometimes it’s more antipasti and vegetables.
Start with the cheese
Rule number three, start with the cheese. I know, it’s a cheese platter, that’s obvious, right? But you’d be surprised how easy it is to get distracted by everything else and end up with cheese being a bit of an afterthought. I like to choose two or three great cheeses (a hard, a soft and a spare) to set the tone for the platter.
Be generous
When it comes to filling your platter, the plate or even the table (like the team at Table and Plate – https://www.instagram.com/tableandplate/) then you want to be generous. That’s rule number four. Be generous in your servings and accompaniments. Add the largest wedge of cheese you can get. For me, the platter is about abundance and sharing, so don’t get stingy.
All occasions are platter occasions
And finally, in what turned out to be a ‘rules’ post, rule FIVE is that there’s never an occasion that doesn’t deserve a cheese platter. Dinner for two? Cheese. Gathering with friends? Cheese. Struggling with something and need a mastermind? Yup, cheese will help.
Okay team, do you have a cheese platter hot tip! This blog is sorely missing comments these days (I think we talk on Facebook mostly) so to get us back in the habit pleeeease share with me below what your number one cheese platter tip is. And if I know Vanessa, that’s going to be MORE CHEESE, less other crap. Haha.
Oh yeah, you read that right. Thermomix Pumpkin and Spinach Risotto. Be still my carb-loving heart. Pumpkin and spinach are my favourite combination of all time, and together in this Thermomix recipe for risotto, it’s a no-brainer. Cheesy and delicious, this is a must have family meal this winter. I made this size batch, and we are two meals in and still going. It would make an excellent side too for large groups. Let’s get started.
Serves 4-6 as a main meal, goodness knows how many as a side. Lots.
WHAT YOU NEED
Half a small pumpkin diced into 2cm cubes
125gm Baby Spinach Leaves
1/2 medium Onion
300gm Arborio Rice
50gm Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbsp (or clove) Garlic
1 Tsp Smoky Paprika
1 Tsp Saffron
1 Handful of Parsley
50g Olive Oil
100gm White Wine
1L of Chicken Stock
20gm Butter
Salt & Pepper to Taste
DO THIS
Place onion, garlic, herbs and spices into the Thermomix bowl and chop for 2-3 seconds on speed 7.
Scrape down sides of the bowl.
Add oil and saute for 2 minutes at 100 degrees on speed one (cap off)
Insert butterfly and add rice and wine to the bowl.
Cook for 2 minutes at 100 degrees on Reverse + Soft speed.
Add stock and half the pumpkin to the bowl, place the rest of the pumpkin in the bottom of the Veroma tray placing the spinach over the top.
Cook for 22-25 minutes at 100 degrees, Reverse + Soft speed. Don’t remove the Veroma during cooking.
If you’ve cut your pumpkin any bigger than recommended, it may need a little pre-cooking zap in the microwave, so cut them up small ok?
Remove the risotto from the bowl when cooked, stir in half the cheese as well as the butter, pumpkin and spinach from the Veroma and salt and pepper to taste.
Allow the dish to rest in a serving bowl for at least 10 minutes before serving with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Pin the images to save for later!
As far as Thermomix risottos go, you can pretty much alternate in whatever ingredients you want, whenever you want to. When I get sick of eating the mushroom risotto in the recipe book, I like to go online for inspiration and mix it up a bit. This post was proudly brought to you by pumpkins grown by my talented father and a love of all things spinach. What’s your favourite risotto flavour?
Mmmmm. Yum. This week’s inspiration comes to you via my currently being renovated kitchen. I’ve chosen some new tiles, Mr Suger finished the cut through to the dining/living room… It’s all happening and I’m dreaming of dinner parties. Of having people over, of cooking and eating for and with friends. Food. This week it is all about food.
The thing I love most about food is that with a little preparation, some research and a good knife or two you can make something special. I’m not an artist, if you’ve seen me draw you’ll testify, but when I cook I get to be creative. Artistic even and inventive. Lashings of colour and texture, spices and flavours. It’s inspiring, don’t you think?
Find all these delicious pins and inspiration on my Fooding and Drinking Board on Pinterest. You’re welcome team. This board has taken me a long time to curate into this colourful, delicious world that it is. I’m a bit nervous sharing it actually. Isn’t that strange? Do me a favour, love it, would you.
What’s inspiring YOU this week? Wanna come to dinner?
