CHEESE PLATES / SNACK BOARDS / CHARCUTERIE!
IDEAS FROM MY SPATTERED KITCHEN NOTEBOOK!
VEGAN + GLUTEN-FREE / SOY-FREE / CAN BE NUT-FREE / PALM-FREE / ALL THE THINGS
Cheese plates, snack boards or charcuterie, whatever you wanna call them, they sure are fun to put together, festive and delicious! They’re a creative outlet, and an easy way to feed a crowd. I’m sharing this post for ideas and inspiration!
The board above was served today to accompany a quiet, rainy Portland afternoon. Everything was gluten-free, minus the homemade seitan slices. Other goodies:
- Toasted slices of The Life Changing Loaf of Bread from My New Roots.
- Miyoko’s Farm Cheddar.
- Garlic stuffed green olives.
- Carob covered fig and nut truffles (details below).
- Dried persimmon and banana – sliced and dehydrated overnight.
- Apple slices and crackers.
- Homemade cultured cashew cheese ball (details below).
- Homemade soy yogurt cheese ball (details below).
This board was from a winter family gathering two years ago. It was completely vegan and gluten-free, and we loaded it up for about 6 hungry people.
- Fresh fruit: grapes, apple and pear slices (tossed in a little lemon juice to prevent oxidation) and a commercial fig and nut loaf.
- Sliced baked tofu. My e-book, Super Yummy Baked Tofu for the Air Fryer!! ,is filled with LOTS of recipes if you want something beyond the usual.
- Commercial dolma, olives and marinated beans.
- Hummus
- Candied nuts (I love this recipe! It’s very easy and the orange zest adds an amazing flavor).
- Miyoko cheese varieties
- Crackers and pretzels (not pictured).
- A homemade cheese ball (details below).
Easy cultured cashew cheese ball:
Put about 2 cups of unroasted cashews in a small bowl with an opened probiotic capsule. Cover with water and soak overnight. The following day, drain and transfer to a strong blender. Add a couple teaspoons of chickpea or white miso and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and cover with a lid or plate. Leave on the counter for about 2 days, or until the cheese is a little sharp. Season to taste with salt and refrigerate. The cheese will thicken in the fridge. With damp hands, form a ball and roll in herbs, sesame seeds or even minced tempeh bacon!
For a nut-free cheese ball, replace the cashews with unroasted sunflower seeds, or make the Easy Soy Yogurt Cheese Ball below.
Easy Soy Yogurt Cheese ball:
Place 1/4 cup unroasted cashews in the jar of a strong blender (soak overnight if your blender isn’t very strong). Add an entire carton of unsweetened soy milk and an opened probiotic capsule. Blend until smooth. Transfer to small jars and incubate overnight on the yogurt setting of an Instant Pot, a food dehydrator, or whatever you’ve got that can make yogurt. The following day, pour into a nut bag or line a bowl with a clean old t-shirt. Gather the top of the cloth and hang from your kitchen faucet, catching dripping whey in a bowl or plate to avoid a mess. Drain for two days, or until the yogurt is thick and no longer dripping. Season to taste with salt, a dash of liquid smoke and a tablespoon or so of an herbal seasoning blend. Refrigerate a few days, until the cheese is rollable and thick. With damp hands, form a ball and roll in herbs, sesame seeds, chopped nuts, smoked paprika or whatever you fancy.
Fast, uncultured cheese Ball:
Pictured above, Somer’s Kick Ace cheese balls are delicious and fast to make. They’re cashew + coconut oil based and seasoned with lots of pantry-friendly seasonings.
Commercial Vegan Cheese ideas:
Most supermarkets carry a decent spread of vegan cheeses nowadays – even Grocery Outlet usually has an assortment of Daiya wedges and Miyoko’s. Trader Joe’s also has a cream cheese you could season and form into a ball. If you live near Portland, the new Vtopia cheese shop has a glorious spread as does Cutie Buys!
Candied Nuts:
For quick nuts, throw a variety in a saucepan over medium-high heat and toast. Drizzle in 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup and cook, stirring constantly, until the pan is dry and the nuts are covered in crystalized sugar. Transfer to a parchment lined plate and cool.
For nuts with a little more zip, I love this recipe from Inspired Taste, the orange zest adds a huge flavor bomb.
Truffles:
Place a small bag of dried figs and a big handful of nuts into the jar of a food processor. Add a splash of vanilla extract and a dash of salt. Process until the mixture is a sticky, homogonous mass. With damp hands, roll into balls. Roll into cocoa powder, protein powder or sesame seeds.
To cover in carob or chocolate, melt chips in the microwave with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Dip into the melted chips, and place on a parchment lined plate to cool.
Meaty vegan ideas:
Tempeh Bacon, sliced seitan, sliced baked tofu, sliced lentil loaf, commercial deli slices, sliced chickpea tofu or jerky.
Other ideas:
Crackers, toast pints, seeded bread, caponata, steamed edamame, hummus, baba ghanoush, dolma, pickles, olive salad, mini samosas, chutneys, pepper jelly or fruit jam, tapenade, tofu salad, chickpea salad, sliced fresh fruit, dried fruit, crystalized ginger, vegetable bites, capers or anything from a well-stocked olive bar.
I hope you found these ideas helpful! I’d love to know what you put on your own boards, and what you love the most.
I’m hoping to build the recipe section of this site to be a mix of new and old recipes you may have seen before. I want my best recipes culled from my old projects to have a place where I can access and share them easily, and I want a place for new recipes, too!
Click here to learn more about the kinds of recipes I create.
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