22 May Individual cheese, fruit and nut boards

This month’s Recipe Redux-small plates for sunny days-took me my right back to my single days. Back then,  I was working at the food mecca known as Central Market and different foods sufficed for dinner.  For example, it was common for these four ingredients to be dinner: New Caledonia shrimp + Manchego cheese + pears + fresh baguette.  Or these four: mixed greens + blue cheese + sauteed mushrooms + a few slices of medium rare filet mignon.  Perhaps fresh mozzarella + tomatoes with salt + a hot-off-the-press tortilla +a few hand packed olives in garlic. These are the years I learned how to make a mean cheese board, too and often had cheeses from around the world combined with fruits, nuts and various charcuterie. You get the drift, right? Suffice it to say, it was a different time in my gastronomic life.

Now, dinners look a lot different, but I’m lucky that friends and family allow me to indulge in my pre-marriage meals. I’m always willing to feed them and therefore, the small plates and cheese boards from yesteryear make appearances often.

The ingredients in this individual cheese board or cheese/fruit/nut platter are items that are always on hand at our house and these small plates take just minutes to assemble. Guests feel really special when I pull out the monogrammed napkins from our wedding (my husband’s last name starts with a “K”).

Here’s what you need:

Edamame with salt + almonds + dried cranberries + apples + Cara Cara oranges +fresh mozzarella + tomato basil cheddar cheese

I like to add fresh basil and a drip of balsamic on the mozzarella cheese just before serving.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to small plates/tapas or cheese boards. Let your creativity (or whatever is in the kitchen) guide you!  What do you like to include on your cheese boards?