Mains & Sides

The Minimal Effort Party Platter Everyone Will Love (Vegan Option Included!)

Writer
Marissa Parry

Posted

22 January 2018

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Are you hosting a potluck party or heading to one, but don’t feel like cooking? Here’s the perfect solution to preparing an impressive yet effortless dish — a cheese platter. With such an array of ingredients, you can be sure that everyone will like something from it.

When choosing cheese, there is so much to choose from. I tend to choose mild cheeses, but really it’s up to you. My favourites are brie, camembert and manchego. The same goes with crackers. My suggestion is a light crisp type, and one that is slightly salty.

Cheese Platter

For this platter I used Goiaba, which is a Brazilian guava paste. It is a perfect pairing with some cheeses. As it is not easy to get, you can replace this with a quince jam.

Ingredients

Cheese (at least 3 types of cheese)
Crackers
Fresh fruit (grapes, kiwi)
Dried fruit (apricots, figs)
Nuts
Olives
Goiaba (optional)

And for those sensitive to lactose or avoiding dairy products, you won’t have to miss out either. Here is a recipe so you can make a dairy-free, vegan friendly cheese board too.

cashew soft cheese

Image credit: BBC Good Food

Ingredients

1 cup cashews
1 cup Brazil nuts
¼ to ½ cup water, for consistency
3-4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1-2 cloves garlic
Fresh herbs of choice (parsley, rosemary, dill)
Salt to taste

Method

Soak the nuts for at least 4 hours.
Drain the water from the nuts and add to the food processor. Blend for about 30 seconds.
Add the remaining ingredients, and some of the water and blend. Slowly add the remaining water depending on the consistency you prefer.
Serve in a small side dish