Build-your-own snack board
Two cheeses, two cured meats and a pile of fruit, nuts and crackers, arranged in fifteen minutes so it looks like it took an hour.
- 45 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 8
- About $2.78 a serving
- 560 calories
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 8 servings.
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, sharp, in a block
- 4 oz goat cheese, log
- 2 tbsp honey
- 4 oz sliced genoa salami
- 3 oz prosciutto
- 1 cup Kalamata olives
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 lb grapes, cut into small bunches
- 6 oz butter crackers
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)
Each serving has about 560 calories, 21 g protein, 34 g carbs and 40 g fat, and costs about $2.78 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No cheddar cheese? Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese or Mexican blend cheese works.
- No honey? Maple syrup works.
- No Kalamata olives? Black olives work.
- No fresh rosemary? Fresh thyme works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Take the cheddar and goat cheese out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving so they .
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Timer: 30 min
Dolly’s tip: Cold cheese tastes mild and waxy. Room temperature is when the flavor shows up.Set the cheeses far apart on a large board or platter, leaving room for everything else to fill in around them.
Dolly’s tip: Any big flat surface works: a cutting board, a baking sheet, even a clean tray.half the cheddar into thin squares and fan them beside the block, with a small knife next to the rest.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
the honey over the goat cheese.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Fold each salami slice into quarters and line them up in a curving row, then drape the prosciutto in loose ruffles in another open spot.
Food safety: If you’re pregnant, heat deli meat, hot dogs, salami, pepperoni and smoked salmon until steaming hot, 165°F, just before eating, or leave them out. Eaten cold, they carry a small risk of listeria.
Spoon the olives and almonds into small bowls, set them on the board, and put an empty dish nearby for pits.
Dolly’s tip: Whole kalamatas have pits, and the little dish saves a hunt for the trash.Fill the gaps with the grape bunches and fanned stacks of crackers until almost no board shows.
Dolly’s tip: To make it ahead, build everything but the crackers, cover with plastic wrap and chill up to 4 hours.Tuck the rosemary sprigs into any gaps and serve.
Dolly’s tip: Meat and cheese can sit out up to 2 hours. Keep half in the fridge and refill rather than leaving it all out.Food safety: Food with mayonnaise, dairy, eggs, cooked meat or cream, like dips, salads and cream desserts, can sit out for 2 hours at most, or 1 hour above 90°F. Keep cold food in the fridge or on ice until serving, and hot food at 140°F or hotter.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
When you host a dinner, Dollop builds the menu around your guests’ allergies, works out a cooking timeline back from when everyone sits down, and puts it all on one grocery list.
