Let's start with the obvious - if you're a vegan, these ingredients are not going to work for your diet, but you can definitely find substitutes.
A few weeks ago, I wanted to put together a little cheese board for New Year's Eve. It was just two of us, so I didn't need a ton of stuff, but I thought it came out well so I snapped a few pics and figured I could share the elements that brought the plate together so you could recreate your own version using whatever works for your diet.
1. Pick a board - Years ago, a good friend of mine gave me this wooden platter from Hawaii that I figured would be perfect. There are also so many great options out there at a variety of price points. I am loving all the options below! How cool is that magnetic version, the chalkboard one and the agate one?! Ah, I love them all. Anyway, you really can't go wrong. I also feel like if you don't have a dedicated platter, just use a cutting board.
2. Pick some cheese and crackers - I have been watching my fat intake (too much fat throws off my hormones, I've realized), so I didn't want to have too many different kinds of cheese, especially since it was just two of us. The general rule of thumb is to have a variety of textures of cheese, so I chose a soft goat cheese and a raw cheddar. I sliced the cheddar up and arranged it in a corner of the board, and for the goat cheese, I just stuck a cheese knife in it and called it a day. Creating dimension this way makes it look really good, so I like the knife in the cheese. Plus, it made it feel inviting - like, hey, come on and dig in.
There are so many different options for cheese knives out there at a variety of price points!
For the crackers, I used some sourdough crackers I found at Whole Foods. They weren't anything to really write home about, but they did the trick.
3. Add some crunch and some juice - For a little crunch, I added herbed cashews. Sprouted almonds would be another great option. For some "juice", I added some grapes and raspberries, which were a nice way to cleanse the palate between cheeses. You could also do sliced apples.
4. Add-ons - I also put some olives in a little jar, and added some prosciutto as well.
Overall it was such a nice way to switch things up. This year I'm making more of an effort to learn how to better entertain and this was definitely a step in the right direction for me and good to have in the toolbox for get togethers. I'd love to hear what you put on your cheese boards if you'd care to share down in the comments section below!