Summer Grazing Platter

This month, Jacqui is serving up the perfect wholesome summer grazing platter recipe - just in time for the silly season.

During my Miss Bliss times I created my fair share of grazing platters and along the way learnt a few tricks, tips and most importantly portion control. I think the hardest thing when it comes to creating a show stopping grazing platter is ensuring you have the right selection of items, and the right quantity. Leading into the festive season means more entertaining, more margaritas (maybe that’s just me) and more platters to share with friends & family so I thought I’d share my go-to grazing cheat sheet with a few steps on how to create a grazing platter this festive season.

The nitty gritty

1. Pick the right size board, platter or serveware & lay your dip/ filler bowls

   I like to use a selection of different sizes, textures and shape

2. Place your showstoppers! This is your cheeses, pastes, pate and cured meats.

3. Next up, fruits & vegetables. I like to be a little unconventional… baby dutch carrots create great texture and shape with their end kept on (I clean them well and brush the skin), baby tomatoes on the vine, figs, grapes, baby cucumbers - not only do they create colour and contrast - they are a great way to create a wholesome grazing board.

4. Crackers & bread. Depending on when you’re serving the board, be mindful. If it’s before dinner, you don’t want your guests to fill up too much, so I skip the bread and use a light selection of crackers. Or if it’s during a cheeky margarita session and you know you need something to fill you up, a beautiful sourdough, sliced baguette or pita bread will go down a charm.

5. Sneaky fillers, these are the nuts, dried fruit & olives (my favourite) that you sprinkle into any of the little spaces to fill the board.

6. Dress that baby up! For the festive season I like to garnish with micro herbs, edible flowers, dehydrated limes, and pomegranate seeds!